Those of us in the TV business who care about such things could only guess what impact the Feb. 11 death of Whitney Houston would have on ratings for the various entertainment newsmagazines.
Well, now we know – and it was huge.
The death of Houston, who died the day before the Grammys, reverberated beginning that Monday, Feb. 13, with “Entertainment Tonight,” “Access Hollywood,” “The Insider” and “Extra” reaping the ratings benefits of viewers eager to learn anything they could about Houston’s death.
For the week ending Feb. 19, “ET” saw its ratings reach a two-year high, with the show drawing a whopping 6.5 million viewers, up 15 percent from the same week last year. “AH,” meanwhile, averaged a lusty 3.3 million viewers – a season high and an increase of 21 percent over the same week last year.
“The Insider” (2.8 million viewers) also hit a season high, while “Extra” (2.5 million viewers) held steady while improving its viewership 13 percent over the same week in 2011.
Among the talk shows (and nothing to do with Houston’s death), “The Doctors” hit a season-high 2.3 million viewers, continuing to climb since Jillian Michaels left as a co-host after half a season.
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“Big Bang Theory” co-star Mayim Bialik is involved with an educational partnership that involves millions of teachers and Texas Instruments and unfolds this weekend in Chicago.
The actress, who has a PhD in neuroscience – and teaches biology and chemistry – will attend Texas Instrument’s 24th annual International Conference held in the Windy City. Tomorrow night, Bialik will donate a set of graphic calculators to a Chicago high school through TI’s work with GEAR UP, a local group (government-sponsored) designed to increase the number of low-income students “who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.”
She’ll also headline the conference’s welcome reception; on Saturday, Bialik will meet with educators and conference leaders.
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Disney Channel and Disney XD will premiere “The Platypus Walk” music video this Saturday. The dance was choreographed by Rosero McCoy (“Shake It Up,” “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam”) and will be demonstrated by many Disney Channel stars including Bridgit Mendler, Mia Talerico, Bella Thorne, Caroline Sunshine, Roshon Fegan and many others (the list is endless, believe me).
Fegan, by the way, was named to the upcoming cast of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” as was Gavin DeGraw – who’s also a judge on the Web series “The OurStage Panel,” which runs through mid-March (panel.ourstage.com). Its aim is to give undiscovered singer/songwriters a shot at the big time.
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Last, but not least:
* Antenna TV will honor the late Davy Jones, who died yesterday at the age of 66, with a marathon of “The M
onkees” this weekend, beginning 5 p.m. Saturday and running straight through to 10 p.m. Sunday . . . Because it’s too laborious to take out a restraining order against the Epix PR department, I’ll just mention that “The Secret Policemen’s Ball,” featuring Reggie Watts, Russell Brand and many others, airs on Epix this Saturday at 7 p.m. . . . Veteran singer/actress Heather MacRae will be at The Iridium (1650 Broadway) on March 6, for one night only, with her show “Songs & Stories” . . . MTV is looking “for people with relationship drama!” between the ages of 16 and 25 for a new reality show. Email rockyrelationships@gmail.com with a photo of yourself and your “boyfriend,” your location, phone number and a brief paragraph explaining why your relationship is so complicated . . . Fuse has ordered an additional 12 episodes of “Funny or Die’s Billy On the Street,” starring comedian Billy Eichner . . . The second season of “Rizzoli & Isles” is out on DVD May 22 – just in time for the show’s third-season premiere on TNT.