January 07, 2004
Viewers Tune Out Jackson/Passport Revoked Again
Michael Jackson's Number Ones couldn't reach number one on the pop charts.
The greatest-hits collection didn't have any better luck in prime time.
Jackson's CBS special ran third in its Friday time slot, behind a college
bowl game on ABC and Dateline on NBC.
Overall, the show, titled, like the album, Michael Jackson Number Ones,
ranked 26th for the TV week ended Sunday, with 10.5 million viewers, per
Nielsen Media Research.
By comparison, ABC's broadcast of the Fiesta Bowl, pitting Ohio State
against Kansas State, averaged 13.7 million viewers for its four-hour
telecast (13th place); while NBC's two-hour Friday edition of Dateline
booked 12.3 million true-crime fans (19th place).
Number Ones originally was to air in November, but was pulled when the
Jackson child-molestation case broke that same month. The network revived
the show after Jackson agreed to grant his first post-arrest interview to
CBS' very own 60 Minutes.
Jackson, the subject of scandal, proved to be a much more popular commodity
than Jackson, the entertainer. Jackson's 60 Minutes appearance outdrew
Number Ones by more than 8 million viewers.
(I suppose that now he'll accuse CBS execs of racism as he did Sony main man
Tommy Mottola. -AZ)
Jackson was due to leave the States on December 20, though reports at the
time claimed the trip had been cancelled. Santa Barbara District Attorney
Thomas Sneddon demanded two days later that the singer prove he was
travelling or return the passport.
As reported by BBC News, Sneddon said that he had resolved the matter with
Jackson and his lawyer, Mark Geragos, on Christmas Eve.
Sneddon's spokeswoman confirmed the passport had been returned, but did not
reveal whether Jackson had provided proof he had travelled. The initial
plans for the trip would have seen him return to the US yesterday (January
6).
Kevin McLin, Jackson's new spokesman, has not commented on the matter,
though the singer's then-spokesman Stuart Backerman said on December 22 that
he believed that the trips were still on. Backerman resigned one week later
over 'strategic differences' with other members of Jackson's entourage.
Brian Oxman, a family friend of the Jacksons, previously told the Associated
Press that Michael's brother Randy had told him that commitments in the UK
had been cancelled.