XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT UPDATE XXXXX 03/04/99 09:08 PT XXXXX UPDATE: LEWINSKY SCORES According to NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH's fast national ratings, Monica Lewinsky interview on ABC has become the most-watched news program ever broadcast by a single network in television history. Expanding on overnight crunches, national numbers have the show now the highest rated program of the season, behind only the Super Bowl. The Lewinsky session built its audience share from half-hour to half-hour, ending with a 52 share. ABC Research now estimates that 70 million viewers watched some or all [down from a 75 million], with the City of Brotherly Love turning in the highest audience levels in the nation! Philadelphia 39.2/53 Boston 38.5/53 Dallas 37.9/50 San Francisco 37.7/54 Cincinnati 37.7/50 Los Angeles 37.6/52 Cleveland 37.5/50 Houston 37.2/48 Atlanta 37.0/50 "The OSCARS came early," one ABC executive said from Century City early Thursday morning. "The numbers are stronger than anyone here could have predicted they would be. God Bless Monica Lewinsky!" The numbers were not enough to yank NBC from a February Sweeeps win, but ABC did get bounce. Among total viewers for the night, Lewinsky/Walters outperformed the competition on CBS by 613% and NBC by 301%, according to crunches. "Everybody said that Americans want this put behind them, this is not representative of the American people wanting this put behind them," declared Rush Limbaugh on Thursday morning. "Ladies and gentleman, do you realize how many people have been lying to us? All of the Democrats, all the big defenders of the president, all those lawyers, all those people on Cable TV for months have been saying that Americans want to move on." "I think we all should really be talking about Social Security! Shame on Barbara Walters," laughed Lucianne Goldberg, who will be appearing solo on CNN's CROSSFIRE tonight. Lewinsky/Walters gave ABC its highest-rated Wednesday night in all categories in six years, since Oprah Winfrey's interview with Michael Jackson on Feb. 10, 1993. ---------------------------------------------------- Filed by Matt Drudge in Hollywood Reports are moved when circumstances warrant http://www.drudgereport.com for steaks and breaks (c)DRUDGE REPORT 1999 Not for reproduction without permission of the author
