State of ‘Montana’ Lost in all the hubbub over the record-shattering pre miere of “High School Musi cal 2” last Friday night (17.2 million viewers!) was the per formance of the “Hannah Montana” episode which fol lowed “HSM2” and benefitted from its ginormous lead-in.
“Hannah Montana” (Miley Cyrus), which aired at 10:20 p.m. (fol lowing a 15-minute preview of “Phineas and Ferb”), averaged 10.7 million viewers – the top-rated basic cable series telecast of all time. The epi sode also shattered records among kids 6-11 (4.2 million) and Tweens 9-14 (4.1 million) and ranked as Disney Chan nel’s third- highest-rated tele cast of all time.
“Phineas and Ferb,” by the way, averaged 10.8 million viewers (with the caveat that it was a “special preview” and was only 15 minutes long).
Last, but not least: * Fast- rising Headline News host Glenn Beck is profiled in the new issue of GQ, out today. Year-to- year, Beck’s show (7 p.m.) is up 72 percent in viewers – and 44 percent in persons 25-54.
* This morning’s “Today” will feature footage of Al Roker flying into Hurricane Dean on a “Hurricane Hunter” plane. Al, who cele brates a birthday today, is re porting on location from Miami.
* Scifi.com streaming “Ros well Confessions: New Wit ness Testimony,” five new video interviews about the 1947 Roswell UFO incident.
* ABC is making episodes 8-13 of “The Nine,” which was cancelled, available on line (abc.com).
* What’s up with publicists inserting themselves into items? I’m seeing this more and more – and I just don’t get it.