Palin pushes
'Oprah' to two-year high
Former Republican VP candidate's interview averages an 8.7
By Diego Vasquez
Nov 19, 2009
Say about her what you will, and there's certainly been plenty said this week, Sarah Palin remains a huge ratings draw on any TV show she visits.
Her much-hyped appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" Monday boosted the show to its best numbers in two years.
"Oprah" averaged an 8.7 household rating and 13 share, according to Nielsen, her highest rating since the Osmond clan appeared on the program two years ago.
It was up 36 percent from the equivalent day last year, and it even outdrew the much-hyped Whitney Houston interview that opened this season.
That's great news for Barbara Walters, who has her own interview with Palin airing tomorrow on "20/20." She can expect a similar ratings surge as the polarizing former Alaska governor continues her press tour for her new autobiography, "Going Rogue: An American Life."
In fact, it's been quite the media-packed week for Palin. She's also the subject of a Newsweek cover story that she herself lambasted for using what she called a sexist photo.
The picture shows last fall's Republican vice presidential candidate in exercise gear, including a skimpy pair of exercise shorts. The photo originally appeared in Runner's World over the summer in a feature called "I'm a Runner."
Newsweek used it to illustrate the cover line "How do you solve a problem like Sarah," running two essays inside discussing the potential 2012 presidential candidate.
Palin herself denounced the choice on her Facebook page, giving it a bit of added third-person gravitas: "The choice of photo for the cover of this week's Newsweek is unfortunate. When it comes to Sarah Palin, this 'news' magazine has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant."
Newsweek defended the choice in a statement Tuesday from editor Jon Meacham.
"We chose the most interesting image available to us to illustrate the theme of the cover, which is what we always try to do," it said. "We apply the same test to photographs of any public figure, male or female: does the image convey what we are saying? That is a gender-neutral standard."
Meanwhile, in Monday's interview, Winfrey and Palin touched on many topics, with Oprah lobbing her most self-absorbed question to start: Was Palin bothered when the queen of daytime did not invite her on the show last fall?
Palin was unflustered. "No offense to you, but it wasn't the center of my universe," she answered.
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