NEW YORK — Friday night’s exclusive “Nightline” interview with former presidential candidate John Edwards, which rocked the media landscape earlier in the day, did little to boost the news program’s ratings, although it was able to hold its audience against the Olympics opening ceremony on NBC.
Friday’s “Nightline” averaged a 2.6 household rating in the preliminary local people meter markets measured by Nielsen Media Research. That was on par with the previous week’s household ratings. Also on par was the show’s 1.2 rating in adults 25-54. But that in itself isn’t a loss as “Nightline” managed to hold its own against the NBC Olympics juggernaut, not losing much in the way of audience as other shows did.
In the interview with ABC News’ Bob Woodruff, Edwards acknowledged he had an affair with a campaign worker. He denied fathering the woman’s baby, despite some reports outside the mainstream media that he had. The interview, which was set to air on “Nightline” against the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, made headlines Friday even before “Nightline” aired.
The interview did, however, beat CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” by 30% in households and 100% in the demo.
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