After September 11, 2001, many people predicted that reality TV would disappear, because reality itself would predominate on the airwaves. They were wrong, and the U.S. television ratings for the week of March 24-30 prove that not even a war will draw viewers away from reality TV.
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According to the Associated Press, the three most watched programs for the first full week of the Iraqi War were reality TV shows. Fox's two episodes of American Idol on Tuesday and Wednesday finished first and second, as each drew over 19 million viewers. In third place for the week was Survivor: Amazon, which was one of only two CBS shows in the top 10. A fourth reality telecast, NBC's Fear Factor, placed seventh for the week.
These ratings also indicate that it wasn't the events of September 11, 2001 that killed Fox's Love Cruise: The Maiden Voyage, which was scheduled to debut that night. The search for the real killer continues....