The scandal that followed allegations that David Letterman was being blackmailed by a CBS News producer who claimed to have evidence that he had been having sexual relations with female staffers has not hurt the Late Show 's ratings, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The trade publication quoted Bill Carroll, head of programing for station consultants Katz Television Group as saying that the scandal has in fact "likely got him more sampling" (viewers tuning in). By contrast, the Tonight show with Conan O'Brien has lost nearly half its viewers this season, putting Letterman substantially ahead in overall ratings. The Reporter cited an unnamed network analyst as saying, "In a fragmented universe where achieving a 1 rating is a victory, having literally tens of millions of people buzzing about you is generally going to be a really big advantage." However, in an interview with Broadcasting and Cable over the weekend, Jay Leno said that he would have been crushed by a similar scandal. "If it were me, it would kill me," he said, "Dave has never pretended to be Mr. Moral America, he's never set himself up that way. ... People know I've been married 29 years. My wife is a very visible person. I'm more out there. Dave is only out there when he's on his TV show. I would be much more affected by something like that."
03/11/2009
