Switching Channels

Two hours in, I'm still enjoying V. I'm not sure if they can keep up the mix of action and paranoia, especially since the executive producer has been replaced, but I've got my fingers crossed. (The numbers dropped a bit the second week. This is somewhat to be expected, but if the drop continues, who knows how long the show will be on.)

Anyway, in the pilot, TV reporter Chad Decker scored a coup and got an exclusive interview with Anna, the leader of the aliens who have just come to Earth. In the second show, we discover the telecast got a huge rating--80 million viewers.

These days, a quarter of that number would make a top show. But still, only 80 million?! For the first good look at the representative of first-contact aliens? Why would anyone be watching anything else? What was the interview up against, So You Think You Can Dance?