Paris draws 3.2 million viewers to "Larry King"

By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Larry King might not have been Paris Hilton's first choice for her first out-of-prison interview, but the telecast brought the CNN talkmeister back to No. 1 in the ratings for a night.

Hilton's one-hour interview on Wednesday's "Larry King Live" averaged 3.2 million viewers, according to live-plus-same-day ratings released Thursday by Nielsen Media Research.

That beat Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes," which almost always wins at 9 p.m., as well as traditional cable news winner "The O'Reilly Factor." "O'Reilly's" Wednesday show averaged 2.6 million viewers at 8 p.m. EDT; "Hannity & Colmes" averaged 1.6 million viewers.

Wednesday's show was King's highest telecast since September 21, 2005, when 4.9 million viewers tuned in for breaking news that included the emergency landing of a Jet Blue Airbus 320 in Los Angeles and Hurricane Rita. It also surpassed King's high-profile interview June 29, 2006, with Star Jones Reynolds after her departure from "The View," which averaged 3 million viewers. By comparison, Tuesday's "Larry King Live" averaged 1.5 million viewers.

That once-in-a-blue-moon boost gave CNN the win against Fox News Channel in primetime, though Fox came out ahead in total day. It even helped "Anderson Cooper 360," which averaged 1.9 million viewers from 10-11 p.m.

But the Hilton interview doesn't come close to King's greatest hits, ranking far behind other telecasts in the ratings.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter