Drew Carey Recaptures Top Spot As Nation's Most Popular TV Personality, Followed by Regis Philbin. Oprah Winfrey Slips to #3

Home , Drew Carey, Jay Leno, Kelsey Grammer, Regis Philbin

THE HARRIS POLL® #4, Embargo Until January 23, 2002

Drew Carey Recaptures Top Spot as Nation’s Most Popular TV Personality, Followed by Regis Philbin

Oprah Winfrey slips to #3 with David Letterman (#4), Ray Romano (#5), Jay Leno (#6), Bill O’Reilly (#7), Kelsey Grammer (#8), Katie Couric (#9) and Rosie O’Donnell (#10) filling other top spots.

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by Humphrey Taylor

This annual issue of The Harris PollÒ of TV personalities finds that Drew Carey has recaptured the top spot, as the nation’s most popular TV personality, which he also held two years ago but lost to Oprah Winfrey last year.

In this year’s survey Regis Philbin holds on to the number two position which he also held last year, while Oprah Winfrey (who was at the top of these rankings in 1998 and last year) has dropped down to number three.

David Letterman has moved up from number six to number four, and Ray Romano has moved up from number seven to number five.

These are the results of The Harris Poll conducted online among a sample of 2,098 adults between December 20, 2001 and January 1, 2002 using the same methodology as used by Harris InteractiveSM to accurately forecast the 2000 elections.

The next five positions were captured by Jay Leno (#6, up from #7 a year earlier), Bill O’Reilly (#7, who was not in last year’s top ten), Kelsey Grammer (#8, down from #5 a year earlier), Katie Couric (#9, not in last year’s top ten) and Rosie O’Donnell (#10 this year compared to #9 a year earlier).

Two people dropped out of this latest top ten ranking – Jerry Seinfeld, who was ranked #1 in 1996 and 1997, and #4 last year, and Bill Cosby who was #3 two years ago and #10 last year.

While Drew Carey wins the most votes overall, some demographic groups give other TV personalities more support. Oprah wins among women. David Letterman gets the most

votes from people aged 25–29 and Hispanics. Regis Philbin wins among people aged 40–49, people over 50 and among whites.

Analysis of the Top Ten

The three top personalities, Drew Carey, Regis Philbin, and Oprah Winfrey all appear on ABC, as does Rosie O’Donnell. NBC has three people in the top ten (Jay Leno, Kelsey Grammer and Katie Couric), while CBS has two (David Letterman and Ray Romano). Bill O’Reilly’s program, the O’Reilly Factor, is on Fox.

Half the list is made up of comedians (Drew Carey, David Letterman, Ray Romano, Jay Leno, and Rosie O’Donnell). Except for Katie Couric and Bill O’Reilly, the list consists of either stars of sit-coms or talk show-type programs, and many of those in the top ten interview guests on their programs.

Humphrey Taylor is the chairman of The Harris Poll®, Harris Interactive.

2 TABLE 1 FAVORITE TV PERSONALITY "Who is your favorite TV personality?” Base: All adults 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Drew Carey * * * =10 6 =8 1 3 1 Regis Philbin * * * * * * * 2 2 Oprah Winfrey 2 2 3 3 3 1 2 1 3 David Letterman 6 6 4 5 7 * * 6 4 Ray Romano * * * * * * * =7 5 Jay Leno * 8 10 =10 8 =6 * =7 6 Bill O’Reilly * * * * * * * * 7 Kelsey Grammer * * 8 =8 9 5 5 5 8 Katie Couric * * * * * * * * 9 Rosie O’Donnell * * * =8 5 =6 8 9 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 David Letterman Age 30-39 Drew Carey Age 40-49 Regis Philbin Age 50 and over Regis Philbin

White Regis Philbin African-American Drew Carey Hispanic David Letterman

DROPPED OUT OF TOP TEN THIS YEAR

Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby

3 Methodology

The Harris Poll® was conducted online within the United States between December 20, 2001 through January 1, 2002, among a nationwide cross section of 2,098 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and number of adults in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. "Propensity score" weighting was also used to adjust for respondents propensity to be online.

In theory, with a probability 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. And this online sample is not a probability sample.

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

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About Harris InteractiveSM Harris Interactive (Nasdaq: HPOL) is a worldwide market research and consulting firm, best known for The Harris Poll Ò and its pioneering use of the Internet to conduct scientifically accurate market research. Strengthened by its recent merger with Total Research Corporation, the Company now combines the power of technology with international expertise in predictive, custom, strategic research. Headquartered in the United States, with offices in the United Kingdom, Japan and a global network of local market and opinion research firms, the Company conducts international research with fluency in multiple languages. For more information about Harris Interactive, visit www.harrisinteractive.com. EOE M/F/D/V

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