Paris Hilton’s jail saga, which saw the weepy heiress enter the slammer, leave the slammer and then return to the slammer within the span of five days, is one of the biggest celebrity stories of the year.
But not for whom you'd expect.
Everyone covered it, cable news and the celeb news sites with breathless updates, and even the broadcast networks’ nightly news shows reported it as news.
Right there beside them, breathless as ever, were the syndicated newsmagazines, pumping it hard. But those shows missed out on the huge ratings bump one has come to expect when the story is about celebs in trouble.
“Entertainment Tonight,” “Inside Edition” and “The Insider” rose a bit, between 3 and 6 percent, for the week ended June 10 versus the prior week.
But “Insider” was actually down compared with the same week last year, as were "Access Hollywood” and “Extra.” In fact, “Extra” slipped to a season-low 1.8 household rating.
Certainly ratings fall for syndication in general during the summer, when families go on vacation, school-year schedules get tossed aside, and TV viewing levels slip.
But that alone doesn't explain it. There are other factors, going beyond seasonality, that played a role, and that role is likely to grow, bringing further hurt to the syndicated newsmagazines.
One is the rising clout of the celebrity gossip sites, such as TMZ.com. They're so quick on the story, updating through the day, that gossip fans have little reason to wait around for the evening, when the celeb newsmagazines air.
Traffic to the 18-month-old TMZ.com has more than doubled in the past year, and it leads all gossip sites with nearly 8 million unique users per month, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Another top site, the blog PerezHilton.com, launched just two years ago and has also seen traffic soar.
Overall traffic to gossip sites rose more than a third this spring, with some 19 million users logging on each month.
Media people have long predicted that such sites would eventually hurt the weekly print celebrity magazines, with their long lead times, but the hurt may also be felt by television.
During last year’s Mel Gibson DUI scandal, TMZ had the scoop on the star’s anti-Semitic tirade hours before any of the newsmagazines, leaving them to play catchup.
No less a factor in the threatened obsolescence of syndicated newsmagazines is the increasing coverage of celeb news by mainstream news organization, from the network news shows to top newspapers like The New York Times.
A few years ago, Hilton’s incarceration probably wouldn’t have made the “CBS Evening News” or “NBC Nightly News.” Two weeks ago, Hilton turned up on both. Celeb reporting is justified these days as pop cultural news, as just another news genre, rather than, as in the past, trash journalism fit only for low-brow publications.
During the week ended June 10, Hilton was the fifth-most-covered topic of the week among all types of news media, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s weekly tally.
She ranked No. 3 on cable news, and on the days of her release and re-incarceration, June 7 and 8, she accounted for a full 8 percent of stories on the broadcast networks’ evening and morning news programs.
Meanwhile, in other daypart ratings for the week ended June 10, ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” was first among Sunday morning shows in total viewers, with 2.65 million tuning in, and tied for first among viewers 25-54 with a 0.7 rating. CBS’s “Face the Nation” was second in viewers with 2.46 million and tied for first among 25-54s with a 0.7. Usual leader “Meet the Press” on NBC was considered a special, as it was preempted in many markets for French Open coverage. In limited airings, it averaged 1.93 million viewers and a 0.5 in 25-54s, while Fox “News Sunday” took fourth place with 1.37 million and a 0.5.
In late night, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” was first for the week, averaging 5.3 million total viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49. “The Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS had 4.1 million viewers and a 1.3 rating in the demo, with ABC’s “Nightline” bringing in 3.1 million viewers and a 1.0 18-49 rating. In late late night, NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” had 2.1 million total viewers and a 0.9 in 18-49s, with CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” averaging 1.9 million viewers and a 0.7, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 1.7 million viewers and a 0.6, and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” bringing in 1.3 million viewers and a 0.6 among 18-49s.
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first with 5.3 million total viewers and a 4.2 household rating and 15 share, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 4.4 million viewers and a 3.3/14. CBS’s “Early Show” was third with 2.5 million total viewers and a 2.0/7.
In daytime, CBS again had the largest audience for both daytime dramas and full daytime, averaging 3.58 million and 3.94 million viewers, respectively, but it was second among women 18-49 for daytime dramas with a 1.3 rating and tied for second with NBC in full daytime with a 1.2 rating. ABC had the second-largest audience with 3.14 million watching its dramas and 3.21 million for full daytime, and was first among women 18-49 with a 1.5 rating for its dramas and a 1.4 for full daytime. NBC had an audience of 2.20 million for both dramas and full daytime, and was third among women 18-49 for dramas and tied for second for full daytime, posting a 1.2 rating for each.
In evening network news for the week ended June 17, ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” was No. 1 among total viewers for the eighth straight week with an average of 7.46 million, though it tied NBC among 25-54s with a 1.8 average rating. NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was second in viewers, averaging 7.13 million, while CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” was third for the week with 5.9 million total viewers and a 1.5 25-54 rating.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending June 10, 2007
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
This Week With George Stephanopoulos |
ABC |
2.0 |
6 |
0.7 |
2.646 |
|
Face the Nation |
CBS |
1.9 |
6 |
0.7 |
2.461 |
|
Meet the Press* |
NBC |
1.6 |
6 |
0.5 |
1.927 |
|
News Sunday |
Fox |
1.0 |
3 |
0.5 |
1.368 |
|
*Due to NBC’s French Open coverage, the June 10 ‘Meet the Press’ was labeled a special by Nielsen and won’t count against its season average.
Source: NTI
|
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS
Week Ending June 10, 2007
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
NBC |
5.3 |
1.6 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
4.1 |
1.3 |
|
Nightline |
ABC |
3.1 |
1.0 |
|
Late Night with Conan O’Brien |
NBC |
2.1 |
0.9 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
CBS |
1.9 |
0.7 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live* |
ABC |
1.7 |
0.6 |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly |
NBC |
1.3 |
0.6 |
|
*Encore telecast on Monday
Source: NTI
|
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending June 10, 2007
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today |
NBC |
4.2 |
15 |
5.3 |
|
Good Morning
America |
ABC |
3.3 |
14 |
4.4 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
2.0 |
7 |
2.5 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending June 10, 2007
Five-day averages |
|
Daytime dramas |
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS |
3.584 |
1.3 |
|
ABC |
3.142 |
1.5 |
|
NBC |
2.198 |
1.2 |
|
Full daytime |
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS |
3.943 |
1.2 |
|
ABC |
3.207 |
1.4 |
|
NBC |
2.198 |
1.2 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending June 17, 2007
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
ABC World News with Charles Gibson |
ABC |
1.8 |
7.460 |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams |
NBC |
1.8 |
7.130 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric |
CBS |
1.5 |
5.900 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending June 10, 2007
|
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
KIN
|
6.7
|
7482
|
|
2
|
JEOPARDY
|
KIN
|
5.6
|
6184
|
|
3
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT)
|
KIN
|
5.1
|
5733
|
|
4
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)
|
C/P
|
4.9
|
5442
|
|
5
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN (AT)
|
KIN
|
4.4
|
4912
|
|
5
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
KIN
|
4.4
|
4856
|
|
7
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
C/P
|
4.3
|
4797
|
|
8
|
CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)
|
KIN
|
4.1
|
4619
|
|
9
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
4
|
4463
|
|
10
|
FRIENDS (AT)
|
WB
|
3.5
|
3858
|
|
11
|
INSIDE EDITION
|
KIN
|
3.3
|
3720
|
|
12
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND
|
KIN
|
3.1
|
3458
|
|
12
|
SEINFELD-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.1
|
3443
|
|
|
