Johnny Carson Still Remarkably Popular on His Retirement; Only Oprah Winfrey Has More Fans

The Hawis Poll

For release: Wednesday, May 20, 1992 1992 #28 ISSN 0895-7983

JOHNNY CARSON STILL REMARKABLY POPULAR ON HIS RETIREMENT; ONLY OPRAH WINFREY HAS MORE FANS

By Humphrey Taylor

As Johnny Carson rides off into the sunset after his last Tonight Show on NBC this Friday night, he is still riding a wave of remarkable popularity. While he is less popular overall than Oprah Winfrey, he is more popular than all his other competitors whether they be day-time or late-evening show hosts. Furthermore, he is more popular than Oprah Winfrey among men and college graduates. These are findings of the Harris Poll conducted among 1,251 adults between April 22nd and April 27th. Among all adults Oprah Winfrey is the most popular talk show host. Many more people (64 percent) say they sometimes watch her, and most TV watchers (31 percent) say she is the talk show host they most like to watch. Almost twice as many people prefer her than Johnny Carson (16 percent) and Phil Donahue (13 percent). Next in popularity are Arsenio Hall (9 percent), Geraldo Rivera (9 percent) and David Letterman (7 percent). Very few people choose Jay Leno (5 percent) or Joan Rivers (3 percent) over other talk show hosts. Of course, Jay Leno's popularity may soar after he takes over on the Tonight Show. However, the opposite is also possible, following a broadcast legend. In the short term, Johnny Carson's departure has to be bad news for NBC. b While Oprah Winfrey is far and away the most popular of these eight talk show hosts among adult Americans, in general she does much less well among men and college graduates. Her strongest support comes from women (43 percent prefer her), people who did not go to college and those with low income. Johnny Carson on the other hand does best among the groups where Oprah Winfrey is weakest : --Twenty-one percent of men prefer Johnny Carson while only 16 percent prefer Oprah Winfrey. --Twenty-six percent of college graduates, and 29 percent of those with postgraduate degrees, prefer Johnny Carson, compared to 21 percent and 25 percent respectively, who choose Oprah Winfrey. There are also substantial differences in the preferences of whites, blacks and Hispanics, with Oprah Winfrey doing particularly well among blacks, Johnny Carson doing better among whites, and Geraldo Rivera doing better among Hispanics. Arsenio Hall is more popular among blacks than he is among whites or Hispanics. That Johnny Carson is still No. 2 after all these years and No.1 in some key categories is remarkable. If, in a few months, he changes his mind and wants a new show, there are many millions of people who would surely watch him.

Humphrey Taylor is President and CEO of Louis Harris and Associates, Inc. THE HARRIS POLL May 20, 1992 8 J TABLES Between April 22nd and 27th, the Harris Poll asked a nationwide cross section of 1,251 adults, by telephone: WHO PEOPLE WATCH "Do you sometimes watch (READ EACH ITEM) on TV or not?" WATCH % Oprah Winfrey 64 Johnny Carson Phil Donahue Geraldo Rivera Arsenio Hall David Letterman 40

Jay Leno 3 2 Joan Rivers 3 1

TALK SHOW HOST LIKED MOST "Which one of the talk shows hosts do you most like to watch?" Education Less Race Than High Some Col- Sex His- To- High Sch. Col- lege Post- Fe- Pa - ---tal School Grad lege Grad Grad Male male White Black & % % % % % % % % % % % Oprah Winf rey Johnny Carson Phil Donahue Arsenio Hall Geraldo Rivera David Letter- man Jay Leno Joan Rivers None Not Sure *=less than 0.5% (continued) THE HARRIS POLL May 20, 1992

METHODOLOGY This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between April 22nd and 27th, among a nationwide cross section of 1,251 adults. Figures for age, sex, race and education were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. In 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. This statement conforms to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. Contact Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., Information Services, 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10111, (2121 698-9600, for complete demographic details for the questions in this release.