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ABC and CNN draw highest ratings for MJ memorial
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AP: From L to R: Tito, Jackie and Randy Jackson
Michael Jackson's memorial – carried live across an unprecedented 18 cable and broadcast networks - drew 31.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, with ABC and CNN leading the pack in ratings.
Both outlets averaged a leading 5.3 million viewers apiece for the Tuesday event, followed by NBC with 5.1 million, CBS with 3.9 million, Fox News at 2.2 million and MSNBC earning 1.4 million.
By comparison, the collective 31.1 million in viewership didn't quite reach the multi-network numbers for Ronald Reagan's 2004 burial (35.1 million) or for the 1997 funeral of Princess Diana (33.8 million). But MJ's final farewell attracted a larger audience than the 8.8 million who watched the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Meanwhile, millions of additional viewers watched the Jackson memorial online. When added to the television count from Nielsen, total viewership in the U.S. is likely to have surpassed that of Reagan's or Diana's.
For instance, MSNBC.com (19 million streams) and MSN.com (9.7 million) broke their all-time streaming video records with Tuesday's event, according to the Hollywood Reporter. ABC's digital network delivered nearly 6 million streams.
As for overseas viewing, more than 6 million people watched the live primetime broadcasts of the service in the U.K., according to unofficial overnight figures cited by the Hollywood Reporter. BBC 2's live coverage attracted an average of 4 million viewers and a 19% audience share that peaked at 5.2 million toward the end of the service, while Channel Five's coverage had an audience of 1.2 million and a 5% share between 6:30-9 p.m. in the U.K. Sky News had an average audience of 897,000 for its coverage.
In Germany, more than 20 million people -- almost one-quarter of the country's population of 83 million -- saw the live transmission from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on more than 10 TV stations, according to market research company Media Control.
On the main national terrestrial channels in France, about 10 million people watched coverage of the memorial, more than a 50% audience share, according to audience measurement company Mediametrie.
Below - Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly rails against the multi-network coverage of Jackson's funeral. He ridicules CBS anchor Katie Couric for interviewing Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds about Jackson's music, and said ABC's ratings champ Charlie Gibson "didn't exactly look relaxed doing the play-by-play."
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