Comments on: Moonwalk Draws 125 Million Viewers; CBS And Cronkite Win Big

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:27:46 +0000

Robert, I was wondering when/if we’d be visited by an actual moon landing conspiracy buff. Even if you’re kidding, welcome!

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:16:19 +0000

Too bad so many people were suckered in to watching something that really didn’t happen. Everybody knows the moonlanding took place in a studio in southern California.

By: TomSD

TomSD — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:32:39 +0000

Bill, can you do the first Beatles appearence on the Ed Sulivan Show, or Elvis comback Vegas concert in 1968?

By: romo

romo — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:31:08 +0000

Its funny….now when i see “moonwalk” i think michael jackson.

By: William

William — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:03:18 +0000

I have a slick keyboard and accidently sent this unfinished.

I would flip the channels then, it was only channels 4,6, and 8 when I was a kid. I would watch the network simulation and annimations of the space coverage. CBS and ABC went all out. NBC was good but seemed a little behind the other two. I would watch Huntley and Brinkley the most as NBC was sponsored by Gulf, ABC had Jules Bergman and Frank Reynolds (not sure if Peter Jennings was involved yet at ABC), and Cronkite at CBS. The networks went wall to wall from Saturday until Monday late afternoon when the lunar module lifted off and docked with the command module. I was hooked on space and wanted to be a sportscaster but anchored my own pretend coverage with my stuffed dog (I was only 8 at the time). One local station was to carry a Cardinals game but luckily it was rained out.

Please forgive my own walk in memory lane.

By: William

William — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:57:53 +0000

This was nicely put together, how did we know Walter would be leaving us at this time. Seems fitting in some ways as I thought he was the voice of the space missions. I loved the TV coverage back then. T

By: Linda S.

Linda S. — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:54:21 +0000

Ten years ago one of the networks (PBS maybe) replayed the moon landing in a multi-day piece called “As it Happened” for the 30th anniversary. That was something to see since I wasn’t old enough to really appreciate what was happening when it was being broadcast live. They included the launch from Kennedy, touchdown on the lunar surface and the “Giant Leap for Mankind” walk down the ladder, re-entry and splashdown. All the landmarks of the mission. Grainy, black and white and Walter Cronkite. So sad he didn’t make it to the 40th.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:18:20 +0000

Matt, I wasn’t old enough to appreciate Heinlein at the time, and I don’t remember who we watched, but the numbers suggest we probably watched CBS as well.

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:50:36 +0000

I stayed up to watch as much as I could and tuned in CBS because Cronkite interviewed Robert Heinlein.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:58:12 +0000

The timing of this post is a bit unsettling to me as well.

By: The1337

The1337 — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:52:26 +0000

I just saw that Walter Cronkite died, and then I remembered this post. Weird…

By: SamuraiNCO

SamuraiNCO — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:48:11 +0000

RIP Walter.

This post seems oddly prescient, though it was well known he was really sick in recent days. I’m sure we’ll be seeing that Moonwalk footage a lot this weekend.

By: dan

dan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:47:49 +0000

my mom and dad were telling me about watching the moon walk when they were about 8 and how it was the only thing on
and jeff mash still holds the record for the most viewed scripted prime time with 106 million i think but it was beat by the superbowl a few times i think

By: romo

romo — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:44:04 +0000

MASH is #1 as far as viewers 105,900,000.

Last years Super Bowl is #1 in total viewers (people that watched at least 6 minutes) with 151,600,000.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:25:40 +0000

I’d love to know a little more about the differences in the way audiences were measured then and now, and would welcome any posts on historical ratings (does the MASH finale still hold the title?)

I just did some quick reading and it’s interesting that ABC news wasn’t taken as seriously as NBC or CBS until the late 70s. I wonder why that is.

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:36:43 +0000

Haha love the retro TV ratings!

Now do the ratings for …let’s see…. Elvis’s last performance.