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Celeb shows soar
on Jackson's death

Except for one, 'TMZ.' Viewership actually fell.

By Kevin Downey
Jul 9, 2009

Entertainment newsmagazines like “Entertainment Tonight” live or die on big celebrity news stories, and the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson on June 25 were easily the year’s biggest stories.

No surprise then that most of the newsmagazines posted big week-to-week ratings increases for the week ending June 28, with their biggest surges on the Thursday the two stars died and the following day.

But there was one curious exception, “TMZ.” The TMZ web site, TMZ.com, broke the news of Jackson’s death, yet the TV show actually saw a dip in viewers that week

"TMZ" had a 1.8 household rating, down 5 percent from the prior week, according to Nielsen ratings released yesterday.

By comparison, “Entertainment Tonight” was up 14 percent, to a 4 rating. “Inside Edition” was up 8 percent, to a 2.7, and “Access Hollywood” was up 6 percent, to a 1.9 rating. “The Insider” was up 20 percent, to a 1.8 household rating, tied with “TMZ.” “Extra” was up 14 percent, to a 1.6 rating for the week.

So why if TMZ.com broke the story of Jackson's death did the "TMZ" show see a decline in viewers?

Good question, and without any real sure answers.

But here are a couple of likely reasons.

For one, the show and the web site are two entirely different entities.

The site is in the business of breaking celebrity news, and it excels at it, as we see over and over, and most recently in reporting the death of Jackson way ahead of everyone else.

By contrast, the show is mostly a showcase for airing amusing paparazzi footage of stars often at not their best moments. Its sheer snarkiness makes it a big draw among younger viewers, which explains why it is No. 1 in 18-34s.

But that's not the sort of show that's going to see a big kick in viewership when stars of Jackson’s and Fawcett's ranking die.

Serious fans, and presumably everyone else, will turn first to the long-established shows like “Entertainment Tonight," knowing that they'll get all the breaking news but, no less important, respectful coverage.

Unlike "TMZ," these shows have a long history of treating Hollywood's elite with respectful awe. And that's even more so in death.

***

In daypart ratings for the week ended June 28, ABC’s “Nightline” led the week with 3.9 million total viewers, boosted by the Jackson story, followed by NBC’s “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” with 3.7 million and CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” with 3.2 million. In late late night, NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” drew 1.8 million viewers, with CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” at 1.6 million, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” bringing in 1.4 million and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” 900,000. Among 18-49s, “Tonight Show” averaged a 1.4 rating, followed by “Nightline” at 1.0 and “Late Show” at 0.8. In late late night, “Late Night” averaged a 0.7 rating, with “Kimmel,” “Late Late Show” and “Last Call” all at 0.4 (with a Monday rerun for “Last Call” and Monday and Wednesday encores for “Kimmel”).

NBC’s “Meet the Press” was the most-watched Sunday morning show on June 28 with 2.75 million tuning in, followed by CBS’s “Face the Nation” with 2.48 million viewers, ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” with 2.35 million and Fox “News Sunday” with 1.05 million. Among the 25-54 demographic, NBC averaged a 1.1 rating followed by CBS and ABC at 0.6 and Fox at 0.3.

In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first for the week with 5.5 million total viewers, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 4.3 million and CBS’s “Early Show” with 2.7 million. “Today” averaged a 4.1 household rating and a 15 share, followed by “Good Morning America” at 3.2/12 and “Early Show” at 2.1/7.

In evening network news for the week ended July 5, NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was first with 8.34 million total viewers and a 2.1 rating among adults 25-54. ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” averaged 7.15 million viewers and a 1.6 rating, followed by CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” with 5.69 million and a 1.3 rating.

Note: The most recent daytime and syndicated ratings were not available at press time.

LATE-NIGHT RATINGS Week Ending June 28, 2009 Five-day averages
Program	Network	People 2+	Adults 18-49
Program	Network	Total viewers (millions)	Rtg%
Nightline	ABC	3.9	1.0
Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien	NBC	3.7	1.4
Late Show with David Letterman	CBS	3.5	0.8
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon	NBC	1.8	0.7
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	CBS	1.6	0.4
Jimmy Kimmel Live*	ABC	1.4	0.4
Last Call with Carson Daly*	NBC	0.9	0.4
* Monday's "Last Call" and "Kimmel" telecasts were encores. Source: NTI

MORNING SHOW RATINGS Week Ending June 28, 2009 Five-day averages
Program	Network	Households		People 2+
Program	Network	Rtg%	Shr	Total viewers (millions)
Today	NBC	4.1	15	5.5
Good Morning America	ABC	3.2	12	4.3
Early Show	CBS	2.1	7	2.7
Source: NTI

DAYTIME RATINGS Week Ending June 21, 2009 Five-day averages
	Total viewers (millions)	Women 18-49
Network	(millions)	Rtg%
CBS	3.23	0.9
ABC	2.72	1.1
NBC	2.59	1.1
Source: NTI

EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS Week Ending July 5, 2009 Five-day averages
Program	Network	25-54s	People 2+
Program	Network	Rtg%	Total viewers (millions)
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams	NBC	2.1	8.342
ABC World News with Charles Gibson	ABC	1.6	7.150
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric	CBS	1.3	5.691
Source: Nielsen Media Research

SYNDICATION Ranked on Households Week Ending June 21, 2009
#	PROGRAMS	Syndicator	Households
#	PROGRAMS	Syndicator	US Rtg%	(000)
1	WHEEL OF FORTUNE	CTD	5.6	6385
2	JEOPARDY	CTD	4.8	5512
3	OPRAH WINFREY SHOW	CTD	3.9	4423
4	JUDGE JUDY (AT)	CTD	3.8	4322
4	TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)	WB	3.8	4405
6	ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)	CTD	3.5	4029
7	FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)	2/T	3.4	3946
8	CSI NEW YORK-SYN(AT)	CTD	3.0	3426
8	GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)	WB	3.0	3429
10	LAW & ORDER:SVU-SYN (AT)	NBU	2.8	3204
10	SEINFELD (AT)	SPT	2.8	3260
12	DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)	CTD	2.7	3073
13	EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)	CTD	2.5	2912
13	INSIDE EDITION (AT)	CTD	2.5	2861
13	KING OF THE HILL-SYN(AT)	2/T	2.5	2884
16	LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY	DAD	2.3	2602
16	GEORGE LOPEZ WKND B (AT)	WB	2.3	2628
16	BUENA VISTA VI	DAD	2.3	2617
19	MILLIONAIRE (AT)	DAD	2.2	2520
19	SEINFELD-WKND (AT)	SPT	2.2	2575
21	TWO-HALF MEN WKND B (AT)	WB	2.1	2424
21	KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT)	SPT	2.1	2395
21	CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)	CTD	2.1	2349
24	FRIENDS (AT)	WB	2.0	2342
24	JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT)	CTD	2.0	2244
24	HOUSE OF PAYNE MF-SYN(AT)	2/T	2.0	2244
24	GEORGE LOPEZ WKND A (AT)	WB	2.0	2247
Source: Nielsen Media Research