Here's something I typed up for a few friends during the Olympics last year, having clipped some news report at the beginning:
====== An average of 31.1 million viewers stayed home Saturday to watch Phelps and his teammates compete in the mens 4x100 medley relay, as well as gymnastics and beach volleyball. An estimated 70 million viewers watched over the course of the whole primetime program, peaking at nearly 40 million during the 11 p.m. half hour, when the relay was held. The last time NBC had such success on a Saturday was on Feb. 24, 1990, with Golden Girls spinoff Empty Nest starring Richard Mulligan, which drew 31.4 million viewers. === I guess this does a couple of things for me. First, it illustrates the demise of network television: it takes a guy swimming for the most Olympic gold medals ever -- *and other stuff* -- to get to 40 million viewers. And second... it is a reminder of just how powerful network TV once was. In 1990, the U.S. population was approximately 248 million. An average of 31.1 million viewers stayed home Saturday to watch Phelps and his teammates compete in the mens 4x100 medley relay, as well as gymnastics and beach volleyball. An estimated 70 million viewers watched over the course of the whole primetime program, peaking at nearly 40 million during the 11 p.m. half hour, when the relay was held. The last time NBC had such success on a Saturday was on Feb. 24, 1990, with Golden Girls spinoff Empty Nest starring Richard Mulligan, which drew 31.4 million viewers. === I guess this does a couple of things for me. First, it illustrates the demise of network television: it takes a guy swimming for the most Olympic gold medals ever -- and other stuff -- to get to 40 million viewers. And second... it is a reminder of just how powerful network TV once was. In 1990, the U.S. population was approximately 248 million. This means that 12 percent of people *who were alive in the United States that night* were watching Empty Nest! ====== AIM/Gmail Chat: damonbeau www.facebook.com/damonbeau www.twitter.com/damonbeau On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 16:34, Kevin G. Barkes <[email protected]> wrote: > > Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with a 3.0 average overnight rating > and an 8 share. NBC was second at 1.9/5, ABC third at 1.6/4, CW fourth at > 1.5/4, and CBS and Univision tied for fifth at 1.3/4. > --- > > An 8 share? And it won the night?? > > I'm old enough to remember when shows were tossed when they didn't get a 27 > share. > > Sigh. > > > Regards, > > KGB > > ----- > Kevin G. Barkes > Email: [email protected] > KGB Report: > http://www.kgbreport.com > Commentwear by KGB: > http://www.commentwear.com > National Temperature Index: > http://nationaltemperatureindex.com > DCL Dialogue on line: > http://www.dcldialogue.com > Random Quotations Generator: > http://www.goodquotations.com > Over 13,000 searchable quotations. > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World News Now Discussion List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/wnndl?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
