Posted on 01/13/2011 7:48:54 PM PST by Justaham
Some 31 million U.S. television viewers tuned in to see President Barack Obama lead a memorial tribute to victims of the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona, according to TV ratings provider Nielsen.
The emotionally charged speech, in which Obama urged Americans not to politicize a tragedy that left six people dead and 13 others wounded, drew generally high marks for his bid to balance words of consolation with a call for national unity.
The seven-network tally for Obama's 30-minute address, carried live on Wednesday night from the University of Arizona, topped the 29 million viewers the president drew in August for his speech on U.S. involvement in Iraq.
It fell just shy of the 32 million people who tuned in to watch an address he delivered in June about the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Nielsen reported on Thursday.
By comparison, the most highly rated show on U.S. television, Fox network's "American Idol," typically averages roughly 25 million viewers for any given episode.
Obama commanded a bigger audience yet, 48 million viewers, with his last State of the Union address in January 2010, according to Nielsen.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Sure, the Administration had no control over the pep rally atmosphere of the crowd...right...
You need to read this and then tell me that it's just a strange coincidence that the t-shirts handed out at this rall...er "memorial" use the phrase "together we thrive". You are either a dupe or a troll.
Free rein is not given to any person, committee, organization or institution when a president is going to come a'calling. Experienced White House teams take care of all detailed plans at the site well ahead of time.
Leni
Too bad it was 100mil.
The entire event was a garish freak show.
Republicans Demand Equal Time After Next Assassination
And 33 million watched football, so?
Damn, knew I shoulda signed up for cable before now.....how will I face the world, being so ignorant of great speeches of the Messiah????????????
Are you serious? Having flowers and photographs of the deceased would have meant the “show” was about the deceased. This was all politics. I’m surprised they didn’t have a banner hanging that read “Campaign 2012 Kickoff.” Whoever planned this did a poor job.Regarding the flowers: you would think that at least one person would have thought to get some, considering the way the White House always has tons of fresh flowers (have you ever seen the centerpieces on the tables at the state dinners?) from its OWN in-house florist? Having the “show” in a stadium was mistake number one. But since Barry and Michelle avoid church like the plague, where else could they have had it? Another odd thing is that the two elderly victims received barely a mention compared to the congresswoman, the judge, and the 9-11 girl. But I guess when you’re exploiting a tragedy for political gain the old people aren’t as attractive as the others. And another odd thing (there are so many to choose from) is they never have any readings about Christ. If by chance there ever is a reading it is always from the Old Testament, never (God-forbid)from the Gospels. That would be just too offensive to the handful of non-Christians that live in America.
The other 279 million had better things to do than watch a bunch of commie libs pretending that they were at a basketball game.
Are you still allowed to say “Who ‘shot’ J.R.?” Don’t you know that you are encouraging violence when you say that?
I slipped. I forgot to consult my approved phrases and words handbook. Please don’t alert Homeland Security.
And according to the WAPO (Drudge) more people tuned in to watch a football game on Sunday.
I’m another.
OMG!
This was all about Obama?
Silly me. Wish I had known that before tuning in....
I thought it was all about honoring the victims of Pelosi's mass "accident."
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