Simpson Chase, Capture Draw High TV Ratings

O.J. Simpson’s flight from police and his subsequent capture in front of his home last Friday earned bonanza television ratings, attracting almost as many viewers locally as last year’s brush fires and the 1992 Los Angeles riots, according to figures released Monday by station researchers and the A. C. Nielsen Co.

“It didn’t compare to the riots or fires in terms of danger to people, but it was really up there in terms of interest to viewers,” said KCBS-TV Channel 2 General Manager Bill Applegate. “It was a high drama of Homeric proportions.”

An estimated 3.4 million households in the Los Angeles-Orange-Ventura county area--or about 68% of the homes that have television--were tuned to the seven major VHF stations between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. as the police pursuit of Simpson wound down and ended at his Brentwood residence, said Rozanne Englehart, director of research for KTLA-TV Channel 5.

That hour marked the peak viewing period for the Simpson saga, she said. By contrast, about 2.8 million households--or 56% of the homes with television--were tuned in during the same hour the preceding week.

Viewership was higher than normal throughout Friday afternoon hours and built gradually through the day as the drama surrounding Simpson’s disappearance unfolded. At 2 p.m., 38% of homes were watching the live coverage. By 5 p.m., 49% of homes were tuned in, and that increased to 53% at 7 p.m.

At 2 p.m on the previous Friday, 29% of the local households had had their televisions on.

“The audience just built steadily and steadily,” Englehart said. “More people came home during the day as usual, and interest in the drama grew, so those things played together to perk up the ratings.”

But the numbers fell short of two other major local stories of recent years. Last year’s fires in Laguna Beach and Malibu, which destroyed hundreds of homes, drew about 3.5 million viewers between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Oct. 27, Englehart said. And the first day of the riots on April 29, 1992, drew some 3.7 million viewers between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.