Not many people watched the “Time 100” special on ABC last night. Just 2.4 million, actually, tuned in from 10-11pm Eastern.
The show was beaten by an NBC medical drama from Canada called “Transplant.” That surgically attached about 3.8 million fans.
A rerun of “FBI: Most Wanted” on CBS finished third in the time slot.
The “Time 100” tried to turn Time Magazine’s long-moribund special edition magazine into a TV awards show. A lot of names flashed by on the screen. The Weeknd performed. But it was kind of an infomercial, and not a very interesting one.
Years ago I used to cover the Time 100 dinner held at the former Time Warner building’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. Like most of these galas, the first years were fun and intimate. Then it became like a Shriner’s Convention, and the “winners” rarely showed up. Toward the end of Time magazine’s ownership by its original company, the Time 100 dinner could be called “The Usual Suspects.”
Will there be annual Time 100 TV specials? Procter & Gamble paid for it, so they’ll have to decide if 2.4 million viewers is enough to promote toothpaste and foot powder. The Time 100 rating was lower than P&G ever got for any of the soap operas they viciously killed off a decade ago.
