There are less people watching the Tuesday, July 7 service in Los Angeles than those tuning in for Bill Clinton's apology for the blue dress scandal in 1998.
- Jul 9, 2009
AceShowbiz - All the coverage on Michael Jackson's death culminated on Tuesday, July 7 when his memorial service was held at Staples Center. Home viewers number who watched through 19 channels that simulcast the service is 31 million, Nielsen Media Research reported. Still, the number cannot beat Princess Diana's funeral back in 1997 which drew 33 million viewers.
Michael, a pop culture icon whose June 25 death sent shock all over the world, lost in number to the Princess because of timing factor among other things. The service was held on a work day and at the hour where people are mostly in the office while Princess Di's funeral was held on Saturday.
Also, online platform was not quite significant back in 1997. The numbers from MSNBC.com, CNN.com, Yahoo and such add up to 12 million viewers, although it may not be exactly 12 million because one person can tap in multiple times.
Just for a perspective, Michael's memorial draws bigger crowd than the funerals of Ronald Regan and Gerald Ford in 2004 and 2006 respectively. It generally equals the number of people tuning in to hear the live reading of Michael's trial verdict in June 2005. But it's less than half the amount of people watching President Bill Clinton's apology for the Monica Lewinsky scandal in August 1998.
Participating networks which are within Nielsen's count are ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, Telefutura, Telemundo, Univision, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Headline News, BET, E!, MTV, VH1, VH1 Classic, TV Guide Network, TV ONE and MUN2.
