Bush confronted 'miserable failure' on TV ratings
( 2003-12-19 16:41) (Agencies)
He may have beaten Saddam
Hussein, but President George W. Bush got clobbered by slinky socialite Paris
Hilton when her television show got higher ratings than Bush's exclusive ABC
interview on Tuesday night.
Paris Hilton
receives interview of press. [File photo] | More
Americans watched Fox's "The Simple Life," which depicts the 22-year-old hotel
heiress working on an Arkansas farm, than saw Bush being interviewed by Diane
Sawyer, Nielsen Media Research said.
"The Simple Life" may have been helped by the public saga of a video, making
the rounds of the Internet, showing the granddaughter of hotel chain founder
Conrad Hilton engaged in various sex acts with ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon.
"The Simple Life" drew 11.8 million viewers while Bush's ABC "Prime Time"
interview drew 11 million, Nielsen said.
In the interview, the president made headlines by saying the recently
captured ex-Iraqi leader should be executed, the "ultimate penalty" for his
iron-fisted rule in Iraq.
But Hilton won more viewers with her performance baking pies and working the
town fair's kissing booth in a mini skirt.
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