As you might expect, the months-long ratings spike enjoyed by HLN’s prime-time lineup (Nancy Grace, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Joy Behar) during the Casey Anthony murder trial has dropped a bit in the wake of Anthony’s “not guilty” verdict, which was rendered July 5.
Still, that drop is not as significant, at least in total viewers, as you might think or expect — especially for a network which was considered the “go-to” place for any-and-all Casey Anthony trial news.
“Nancy Grace,” which airs at 8 p.m., experienced the largest dropoff in prime-time HLN viewership following the stunning verdict. In the seven weeks leading up to the verdict, “Grace” averaged 1.6 million viewers. That fell to 1 million viewers last week (July 11-15), or a dropoff of 37 percent.
At 9 p.m., “Dr. Drew Pinsky” dropped 18 percent in total viewers, down from 1.2 million pre-verdict (those same seven weeks) to 991,000 viewers last week.
“Joy Behar,” which was pulling 825,000 viewers in the seven weeks leading up to the verdict, averaged 787,000 viewers last week, only a 4 percent loss.
The dropoffs were markedly larger in the “money” demo of adults 25-54 — with “Grace,” “Pinsky” and “Behar” shedding 43 percent, 25 percent and 18 percent in that audience, respectively, from the seven weeks leading up to the July 5 Anthony verdict.
In other ratings news, AMC’s “Breaking Bad” — never a huge ratings draw — returned to strong numbers Sunday night.
The show’s fourth-season premiere at 10 p.m. pulled in a series-record 2.6 million viewers — which represented a 30 percent increase over the show’s Season 3 premiere (March 2010). Sunday’s episode also showed increases of 59 percent and 26 percent, respectively, in adults 18-34 and 18-49 over the Season 3 premiere.
Even better, it also steamrolled over its AMC stablemate, “Mad Men,” in all demos when comparing both shows’ fourth-season premieres. And at least fans of “Breaking Bad” don’t have to wait 36 years between seasons.
So there.
By the way, Sunday’s “Breaking Bad” season premiere featured a grisly scene in which Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) brutally slashed the throat of one of his henchmen, Victor (Jeremiah Bitsui), who’d made the mistake of being seen at the scene of Gale’s (David Costabile) murder.
“When I first read what happens in the first episode I thought, ‘Why would Gus kill Victor?’,” series star Bryan Cranston (Walter White) told me when I spoke to him recently. “It threw me. It was shocking for sure, and I didn’t see it coming.
“But it makes sense,” he said. “Gus hates loose ends, and Victor got himself seen at the crime . . . and Gus is sending a message, that anyone and everyone is expendable. It serves so many different purposes and it’s absolutely justified and appropriate and surprising all the same.”
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The new off-Broadway musical, “Soldier’s Song,” directed by Angelica Torn, starts previews on Thursday and opens July 28th — with a nice twist regarding a cast member.
The show stars Brooklyn native J.W. Cortes as Jose, a Puerto Rican soldier who’s also an aspiring singer/songwriter. In the plot (written by Jim Cohen and Joanne Lee Drexler Cohen), Jose is performing at a nightclub in Puerto Rico when he’s sent off to serve in Iraq., taking him away from the wealthy woman with whom he’s fallen in love.
The twist here is that Cortes, who’s appeared in “We Own the Night,” “American Gangster” and “The Last Airbender” — as well as the “Nueva Estrella Awards” on CBS — actually served as a Marine in Iraq . . . while trying to get his singing/performing career into high gear.
“Soldier’s Song” will be staged at the Poet’s Den Theater in East Harlem (309 East 108th). Soldierssongmusical.com has more info.
Last, but not least:
* CBS News garnered 34 News and Documentary Emmy nominations yesterday, including a whopping 23 for “60 Minutes” . . . Adriana Vargas has joined Ch. 41’s 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts as co-anchor with Rafael Pineda . . . The first season of Nick’s ’90s series “Hey Arnold!” is out on DVD Aug. 9 (all 20 episodes).
Contact The Starr Report: mstarr@nypost.com.