Hilton Beats Bush in TV Ratings

NEW
YORK (Reuters) – He may have beaten Saddam Hussein, but President Bush
got clobbered by slinky socialite Paris Hilton when her television show
got higher ratings than Bush’s exclusive ABC interview Tuesday night.
More Americans watched Fox’s "The Simple Life," which depicts
the 22-year-old hotel heiress working on an Arkansas farm, than saw Bush
being interviewed by Diane Sawyer, Nielsen Media Research said on Thursday.

"The Simple Life" may have been helped by the public saga of
a video, making the rounds of the Internet, showing the granddaughter of
hotel chain
founder Conrad Hilton engaged in various sex acts with ex-boyfriend Rick
Salomon.

"The Simple Life" drew 11.8 million viewers while Bush’s ABC "Prime
Time" interview drew 11 million, Nielsen said.

In the interview, the president made headlines by saying the recently captured
ex-Iraqi leader should be executed — the "ultimate penalty" —
for his iron-fisted rule in Iraq.
But Hilton won more viewers with her performance baking pies and working
the town fair’s kissing booth in a mini skirt.

from Reuters