Drew Carey Jumps to Top of List As the Nation's Favorite

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The Harris Poll

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THE HARRIS POLL #75 FOR RELEASE: DECEMBER 15, 1999

DREW CAREY JUMPS TO TOP OF LIST AS THE NATION’S FAVORITE TV PERSONALITY

He moves ahead of Oprah Winfrey (#2), Bill Cosby (#3), Jerry Seinfeld (#4) and Kelsey Grammar (#5). ______

by Humphrey Taylor

While primetime game shows such as Greed and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire seem to be captivating America these days, the stars of sitcoms and talk shows are most popular. Drew Carey tops the list of the nation’s favorite TV personalities, and Oprah

Winfrey ranks a close second. These are the results of a Harris Poll of 1,011 adults surveyed by telephone between October 27 and November 2, 1999.

Both sitcoms and talk shows provide America with a comforting diversion from reality. Both also offer well-publicized celebrities. This may explain why stars of these shows, and only these shows, comprise the list of America’s top 10 TV stars.

While Drew Carey is #1, he is followed by several of his sitcom colleagues: Bill

Cosby (#3), Jerry Seinfeld (#4), Kelsey Grammer (#5), Jennifer Aniston (#6), Tim Allen

(#7), and Helen Hunt (#9). Interestingly, no stars from television’s most popular dramas such as Touched by an Angel or Law and Order rank anywhere on the list.

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In addition, the stars of TV talk shows, while rumored to be on the decline, capture several of the top spots: Oprah Winfrey (#2), Rosie O’Donnell (#8), Jerry Springer and

Johnny Carson (tied for #10). With one clear celebrity anchoring the show and providing an every-day presence on the air, it may be easy to understand the popularity of talk show stars. However, celebrities who anchor other dailies such as game shows or news programs rank nowhere in the top 10. Tom Brokaw, while a member of last year’s list, fell out of the top 10 this year.

While Drew Carey tops the list overall and among men, whites, young adults (18-24) and those aged 30-39, Oprah Winfrey is the favorite among women, African-Americans, and those over 50. Jerry Seinfeld ranks first with those in their late 20s.

Bill Cosby who has never been out of the top 10 since Harris began asking this series of questions in 1993, continues this trend by coming in third this year.

Unlike Cosby, four stars – Seinfeld, Allen, Hunt, and Carson – earn spots in the top

10 without having any new shows on the air. While past programs for Seinfeld, Allen, and

Hunt replay often for America in reruns, explaining these stars’ popularity, Johnny Carson’s legacy is most impressive, as he has been out of the public spotlight for years.

It will be interesting to see how long these stars remain in the top 10 as their shows become part of our TV archives. As a foreshadowing of a future slide, Jerry Seinfeld who was #1 in 1996 and 1997, and in second place last year, has fallen to #4 this year.

Similarly, Tim Allen has slipped in the rankings. Like last week’s sports poll, it seems

2 America’s message to today’s celebrities is “you are only as popular as your most recent performance.”

Humphrey Taylor is the Chairman of The Harris Poll.

3 TABLE 1

FAVORITE TV PERSONALITY

“Who is your favorite TV personality?”

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Drew Carey * * * =10 6 =8 1 Oprah Winfrey 2 2 3 3 3 1 2 Bill Cosby 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 Jerry Seinfeld 4 3 2 1 1 2 4 Kelsey Grammar * * 8 =8 9 5 5 Jennifer Aniston * * * * * * 6 Tim Allen 1 1 1 2 2 3 7 Rosie O’Donnell * * * =8 5 =6 8 Helen Hunt * * * * * * 9 Jerry Springer * * * * * =8 =10 Johnny Carson * * * * * * 10 ______* Not in top ten

FAVORITE TV PERSONALITY AMONG DIFFERENT GROUPS

Among: Men: Drew Carey Women: Oprah Winfrey

Age 18-24: Drew Carey Age 25-29: Jerry Seinfeld Age 30-39: Drew Carey Age 40-49: Oprah Winfrey Age 50 and over: Oprah Winfrey

White: Drew Carey African-American: Oprah Winfrey Hispanic: Jennifer Aniston

DROPPED OUT OF TOP TEN THIS YEAR

Jay Leno (=#6 last year) and Tom Brokaw (#10)

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between October 27- November 2, 1999, among a nationwide cross section of 1011 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults and number of voice/telephone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is difficult or impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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