• by Wayne Friedman , June 20, 2016

The Walt Disney Company got two strong entertainment business results this past weekend -- the closely fought, high-rated NBA Finals on its ABC TV Network, and the big theatrical release of the Disney Pixar animated movie “Finding Dory.”

The “Finding Nemo”-spinoff movie pulled in a record $136 million in U.S. box office revenue -- the largest ever opening weekend for an animated movie.

This spending does not include consumer brand entertainment TV tie-ins, which can at times double TV advertising movie spending.

Most of the national TV weight for “Dory” started up on May 6, peaking on June 12. Disney’s ABC grabbed $3.6 million of this advertising -- with much of this going into the NBA Finals that the network aired. NBC was next at $2.4 million, followed by Nickelodeon at $1.7 million, ESPN at $1.3 million, and Fox at $1.0 million.

For the weekend -- after “Finding Dory” -- Warner Bros’ “Central Intelligence” took in $35.5 million in U.S. box office for its opening weekend; Warner Bros. “The Conjuring 2” with $14.9 million; and Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me 2” at  $9.3 million.

In national TV advertising, “Central Intelligence” has spent $21.5 million for its entire national TV advertising so far.
“The Conjuring 2” was at $15.7 million in national TV spend. (It was $71.1 million in total U.S. box office since its release a week before.)  “Now You See Me 2" came in at $18.3 million in national TV advertising ($41.1 million in total U.S. box office, also in its second week of release.)