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Subscribe to RSSIn a new survey asking people which TV events they remember most, Sept. 11 rose to the top of the list. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
In a new survey asking TV viewers to rank the most impactful moments on television over the past 50 years, September 11th rose to the top of the list, followed by Hurricane Katrina, the O.J. Simpson verdict and the Challenger explosion.
Sony Electronics and the Nielsen television research company collaborated on the survey, asking people what they remembered watching, if they recalled where they watched, who they were with and whether they talked to other people about what they had seen.
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I was in 7th or 8th grade when for the first time one of the national news networks showed a video tape of a journalist, I believe, being executed in a foreign country. Does anyone remember that? I was shocked. Everyone was shocked. For the first time, war and terrorism was really shown to us...what we see on TV was forever changed after that.
I remember that. That was Daniel Pearl.
What about the bombing of Pam Am 103. I think this was our introduction to terrorism. I think Americans always thought that it just happened over there. Also the first bombing fo the WTC in 1993 should be on that list.
This is supposed to be a list of the most "impactful televised events" of the last 50 years. Therefore, it is nothing less than sad and/or pathetic that two events related to O.J. Simpson's murder trial are mentioned twice in the Top 6, more than 20 spots ahead of JFK's assassination. With respect to those millions of Americans not alive or old enough to witness the events following the asssassination of the president, one might expect a more incisive deduction vis-a-vis its importance in the overall scheme of things. Be that as it may, given the collective assessment of the survey group, it is little wonder that the decline and fall of America is well underway.
I couldn't agree with you more zephpyr99. It would have been interesting to see this same survey done by age group. I am 58 years old and think that the 1969 landing on the moon should be number two.
Couldn't agree more with 327vet! Moon landing should be right at the top. It's a shame that all the conspiracy crap has many 20 somethings not believing it happened. Lots in that list that should be.
The shooting in Tucson last year had a HUGE effect on me and the 20/20 interview with Gabby Giffords 10 months later.
WHAT ABOUT THAT WACK-JOB dr in texas that killed like 32 people on the base? he still hasn't gone before a judge
Um, the Wilt Chamberlain game was not televised. There is no known footage, just radio coverage. That nullifies any credibility of this list....lol
First thing I thought about as Brian was doing the story was JFK assasination, and I was just in the first grade when it happened. I guess my age group was too old for the survey. I would put Sept 11 in second place and the moon landing third.
One of my most memorable news stories was the death of our PRINCE ..John Kennedy Jr. in the plane crash with his wife and sister in law. That was a tragic loss to our country.
That affected me more than OJ Simpson ...who is an embaressment and doesn't deserve publicity.
I can't believe the Watergate hearings didn't make the list. They were on all FOUR channels back then and you couldn't get away from them.
OJ Simpson numbers 4 and 5 and the assassination of John Lennon something like 34???!!!
Impactful really isn't a word.