Letterman's blackmail scandal boosts ratings 22%

The blackmail scandal is already having a beneficial effect on David Letterman's ratings.

On Thursday, numbers for "Late Show with David Letterman" surged 22% based on preliminary estimates, according to the Nielsen Company. Letterman spent part of the program discussing a recent $2-million blackmail attempt and admitted that he had had affairs with female staffers on his show.

The program scored a 4.4 rating/12 share in household "overnight" numbers, handily beating "Late Show's" 3.6 rating/9 share so far this season. (Complete numbers, including total-viewer figures, will not be available until later.)

However, the Thursday show did not come close to a record. On Sept. 21, with President Obama as the sole guest, "Late Show" delivered a 5.6 rating/14 share. And when Oprah Winfrey appeared Dec. 1, 2005, the program hit an all-time high of a 10.1 rating/24 share.

Overall, however, Letterman is on a ratings roll. Long the No. 2 player in late night, the program has been on the upswing since June, when Conan O'Brien took over NBC's "Tonight Show" from Jay Leno.

During the first week of this season, "Late Show" logged an average of 5 million total viewers, up 28% compared with the same period last year. "Tonight Show" plunged 49%, to 2.4 million viewers.

-- Scott Collins

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Letterman's blackmail scandal boosts ratings 22% 

David Letterman on extortion attempt: 'I felt menaced by this'

Photo: This September 21, 2009 file photo shows US President Barack Obama (L) with David Letterman during a taping of "The Late Show with David Letterman" in New York. Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[HP323]

Oh well isn't that fantastic. Stay tuned for sweeps when Dave reveals that one of the women he banged is pregnant. That outta really get the eyeballs.

[John Fitzgerald]

Extortion is illegal. Sex is not illegal. (Not that some don't try).

I must be the only one in the world that KNEW ALREADY that Letterman has had sexual liaisons with women that worked for Late Night (and by default, him). Perhaps I'm psychic, perhaps it was some old news rumor that was like....duh.

Now if one of them claims harassment or coercion, then you have something.

Is it tacky? Sure. Is it be questionable? Sure. Is it creepy? Bet that depends on who you ask. Has there been any real accusation of harassment? Not that I've read. Sex between consenting adults is just that. Unless your the Taliban.

It's amazing how people 1) Turn the victim into the criminal and 2) Add guilt to sex. If there was harassment by Letterman then that makes two crimes.

Sometimes news stories just come out simultaneously in the most appropriate way.

The recent news includes the following.

"Detailed in their new book "Why Women Have Sex: Understanding Sexual Motivations from Adventure to Revenge (and Everything in Between)," Buss and Cindy M. Meston, clinical psychology professor, collected personal accounts from more than 1,000 women of diverse educational, ethnic and religious backgrounds on their reasons for having sex."

They accounted for some 247 reasons.

Among them are

" * Thirty-one percent of women, at some point, purposely evoked jealousy in their sex partner, compared with only 17 percent of men.
* Eighty-four percent of wives, at some point, said they had sex out of a sense of duty, compared with 64 percent of husbands.
* Thirty-eight percent of women admit to "poaching" someone for a short-term fling.
* Fifty percent of women reported having sex to cure a migraine headache.
* Women, in general, are turned on by men with deep voices and symmetrical bodies."

-----------------------

The top ten reasons women gave for having sex (we could do this forever):

#10: "Big feet."
#9: "Because Hugh Hefner and I are in love."
#8: "Just wait till I tell my friends."
#7: "What a hunk!"
#6: "He's such a powerful man."
#5: "I shouldn't have had that last Moheta."
#4: "I have a headache."
#3: "Ask Birkitt."
#2: "We missed the Top Ten list again, sweetie."

and

The number one reason women reported for having sex

"Because Letterman is so funny!"

[CW]

If he didn't have millions and he worked for a large company, he would probably be fired for abusing his positions

[Carl Johnson]

That makes no sense. No-one would have known about it before the show. All the news came out after the show. What were the ratings the next day, is the appropriate question.

[Mike]

I suppose now that David Letterman's sexual escapades are public he is qulaified to run for NY Governor or some other public office.

[dave]

Having sex with people who work for you? I don't know. Can you say "SEXUAL HARASSMENT", because that is a crime. Now I know why Letterman is such a liberal suck up to Obama. If Letterman was viewed as a conservative, he would be hung out to dry. But as a liberal all is forgiven.

[dalton]

The question is did he use his position of power to force himself onto the young interns or did they find the pacemaker and gapped tooth too irrestible.

1/3 of his show is off-the-cuff, glib one-liners usually degrading to someone.

The ratings boost was to witness a train-wreck.

He should have paid the money and hoped it bought him 2 mores years, then retire.

[Roxanne]

Beats having Kanye West the day after the MTV Music Awards...

[Portia Jeffries]

Ashamed to say I too tuned in, but mainly to see how Letterman would handle it. And he did so with amazing self-possession and poise--during the monologue he revealed not a trace of anxiety or the emotional strain he must have been under.

[SafewConan]

What a two-faced twirp. Treats a War Hero, John McCain who spent 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton like he was a bum for missing his T.V. show. The guy apologizes to a talk show host and he still rips him, who the hell does this cat think he is, Obama? Ya, he pushed the votes his way, but it's over DAVE, your dust. Here he has a son and has no regard for his life or upbringing by dumping all this baggage on the kid and oh ya, how about the wife?

2 million, no, but sexual harASSment in the workplace, CBS is going to be paying out some big bucks to every one on that staff. Not even any remorse to his wife or child? What a d-weed.

I lost most respect when he treated McCain the way he did and then the attacks on a teenager who got pregnant, Palin's daughter, but this was the final straw. I will TIVO Leno, or try to give Conan a 10th try. This guy has no morals, but sure can rip every other human over and over again. It's a joke, he went for laughs explaining it, that's poor. The news was pimping his excuse, thats how bad they are for ratings. Hey Kayne, you want a talk show on CBS now that your tour is cancelled?

Viewership will sink, 20% think he should be fired, thats to drastic, but enough that I will turn the channel for good on this chump, that's enough to sink this two faced weasel ratings now. Maybe cable will pick him up. Put Ferguson or Fallon on, Dave has turned into a ranting liberal, which the affairs are part of the gig.

[nemo]

What bull! How could it boost viewing when someone not watching the show would only know about it later and the following show has not aired yet.

[the word]

Why is this a surprise? Who wants to watch a show run by a 10 year old dressed as an adult? Its no surprise that the Tonight Show will continue to plumet.

I don't think I can stand one more counterfit face gesture from Mr Conan.

[Gaias Child]

I don't usually stay up late enough but last night happened to and, whoa, what's he saying?? Ladies plural??? Good for him. He never really seemed the sexy type to me, too much nervous tension, too goofy, but sure good at what he does. I liked how he told it. I liked what he said. Evidently, there's been a bit of a free spirit in that Armani suit all these years. Wonders never cease. I LOVE it that he stood up to the extortion. Now I'm wondering what part in it did the girlfriend of the extortionist play? It would be lovely if she's innocent party and just Dave's good friend.

[Warren Welch]

Any corporate employer that I have worked for since the 60's would have fired a supervisor for having sex with a subordinate employee. I guess politicians and David Letterman are different because they're the victims? Those evil employees are forcing them to misbehave! I stopped watching David Letterman after some of his liberal rants, and this is just one more incident to support my position. Adios David!

[Yanka]

It’s a sick reality of today that sexual discretion if not plain crimes by celebrities appear to have a different significance than if the same transgressions were committed by the ‘man in the street.’ The Hollywood-led outcry over Roman Polanski’s arrest earlier this week, followed by the seeming acceptance of David Letterman’s office dalliances, are a genuine source of alarm. Our sense of morality differs depending on the subject, his (heretofore ‘clean’) popularity, status, or wealth. Media focus is concentrated on the extortion attempts on David Letterman; little attention is paid on Mr. Letterman’s coerced admission of sexual relations with members of the staff. ‘The man in the street’ would indeed find himself on the street. ‘The man on The Late Show’ gets a rating boost and gains in popularity. Long live the double standards.

[Jasmine]

Well, just how much did he pay to his partners to not go public? Is there no Sexual Harassment policy at any of the broadcast media? Where I come from, sexual relations with subordinates is against policy and will result in terminination. Period. Let's see how wonderful his ratings are now. Just glad the escapades weren't televised. Yuck!! Married in March after 20 some years dating? He knew this was coming-just didn't know when it would hit. It' s always good PR to be married, when facing court hearings, firings. Too bad his poor son has to learn of this wonderful endeavor of his father.

I'm sure the playmates had the flings for their sheer pleasure-yeah, Right. They were hoping for something tangible. Did they get it?? How many got promotions or their mortgages paid?

[John G Strode]

Someone on here mentioned 'the extortionist's girlfriend'...Hmmmm, that gets ME thinking - why the demand for TWO million dollars? Why not just one?

Could it be because the confederate in all this sordid tale was a Late Night Show staffer, a young female, not attracted to ol' Dave, who has the moral terpitude to be outraged at Dave's legitimatre complaint at McCain, and even moreso at accepting the President if the United States as his one and only guest for one evening (what was he supposed to do, say no to the President? You don't do that, unless you work for Faux News - even then!); probably, it was a young intern or other employee, a young woman, likely none too pretty, maybe more than a little jealous, and guaranteed half of the two million, quite a boost from her scale salary from World Wide Pants!

There's a rat in the house at the Ed Sullivan Theater, and she likely sees Letterman every day!

This should only be starting to get interesting...Hahahahaha! I wonder who is is?

~John Strode

[Nils]

Interesting to read that Malkin ( read moron ) and other conservatives seem to be picking on Lettermans lack of morals and work place ethics . I seem to recall a certain Bill O Fox TV / right wing demagog PAYING OFF one of his researchers /interns for his indiscretions . Oooo , could this be a conflict of comments ?

[Michael Andrews]

This story is not about supposedly consensual sex between two people (one superviors and one subordinate) in the workplace.
This story will turn into sexual harrassment and hostile work environment by the other affected employees. How many women were overlooked for raises, promotions, air-time that were not sleeping with Mr. Letterman?
Letterman is a complete and total hypocrite and I hope he goes the way of Imus, at least for a while.
Can you say DIRTY OLD MAN?
Men who go after subordinate women in the workplace need to show their power and dominance over women. And, they are just plain stupd for taking the risk.
Look up the word HUBRIS in the dictionary. See ya later Dave...it was nice to know ya.