The power of Palin

Sarah Palin’s appearance on ABC World News Tonight on September 11 and 12 vaulted them from second place to first among total viewers. From a half a million behind, they beat NBC by over a half a million with only two days of Palin. Lest you think this a fluke, it’s the first time ABC was number one since the week of May 26. 9/08-12 Total Viewers: ABC: 8,880,000 / NBC: 8,360,000 / CBS: 6,210,000 (Palin ABC 11&12) 9/01-05 Total Viewers: NBC: 8,230,000 / ABC: 7,700,000 / CBS: 5,530,000 (No Palin) Source: Mediabistro Likewise on cable last night, perennial number two Hannity and Colmes whupped O’Reilly by over a million with Ms. Palin. CABLE RACE, WED, SEPT 17 FOXNEWS HANNITY/COLMES 4,921,000 FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,839,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 3,561,000 FOXNEWS SHEP SMITH 2,184,000 FOXNEWS HUME 2,108,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,854,000 CNN COOPER 1,719,000 MSNBC RACHEL MADDOW 1,716,000 CNN KING 1,646,000 MSNBC HARDBALL 1,145,000 Source: Drudge Next week, Sarah will be on last place CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. With the world hungry for more Palin, the effects will likely be the same, but unlikely to move CBS into second place. Now here’s the conflict for the network news producers. Do you risk offending Sarah Palin and not having her back, or in the case of NBC and ABC being fair and ensuring yourself more weekly first places? Tough choices. That's the power of Palin.