Study: Sept 11 most memorable TV moment

NEW YORK (AP):

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack is by far the most memorable moment shared by television viewers during the last 50 years, a study released on Wednesday concluded.

The only thing that came close was President John F. Kennedy's assassination and its aftermath in 1963, but that was only for the people aged 55 and over who experienced those events as they happened instead of replayed as an historical artefact.

Sony Electronics and the Nielsen television research company collaborated on the survey. They ranked TV moments for their impact not just by asking people if they remembered watching them, but if they recalled where they watched it, who they were with and whether they talked to other people about what they had seen.

By that measure, the September 11 tragedy was nearly twice as impactful as the second-ranked moment, which was the coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Minutes after the first airplane struck New York's World Trade Center on a late summer morning, television networks began covering the events continuously and stayed with them for days.

The other biggest TV events, in order, were the 1995 verdict in O.J. Simpson's murder trial, the Challenger space shuttle explosion in 1986 and the death of Osama bin Laden last year, the survey found.

Sony was interested in the study for clues on consumer interests and behaviours and found "that television is really the grandmother of all the social devices," said Brian Siegel, vice-president of television business for the company.

The biggest difference

Going into the study, Siegel said he had anticipated that entertainment events like the final episode of M-A-S-H (ranked No. 42), the Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (No. 43) and the Who shot J.R.? episode of Dallas (No. 44) would rank higher. Instead, television coverage of news events made the biggest difference in viewers' lives.

Men and women agreed on the three most impactful television events - September 11, Katrina and Simpson. After that, some of the interests diverged.

For example, women ranked the 1997 funeral of Princess Diana as the fourth most memorable event, while men put that at No. 23. Women ranked this year's death of Whitney Houston at No. 5, with men judging it No. 21.

Similarly, the 2003 bombing of Baghdad at the start of the Iraq War was seen as the No. 14 most impactful moment by men, and No. 37 among women. Men were also far more struck by boxer Mike Tyson biting off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear.