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Al Gore has experienced a surge in media coverage this summer generated mostly by the release of his new film and book on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Even with the extensive media coverage – more than one network story per day on average – Gore’s film spent only one week in the top ten [2]. The film only made it to the number nine position.
By comparison “X-Men III – The Last Stand” had only had 25 appearances on the networks in the same three-month period. The third installment in the X-Men series raked in more than $233 million in the U.S. Gore’s documentary has brought in less than $22 million. That means X-Men pulled in 10 times the money with one-third the TV appearances.
Gore and his film cropped up on every kind of show from “The View” and “Saturday Night Live” to “Lou Dobbs Tonight” and “The Nightly News.” From flattery about Gore’s newfound “charisma” to wishful thinking about his political future the media thoroughly enjoyed selling Gore this summer.
In this look at Gore’s recent media coverage, BMI found:
The Debate is Over … whelming – The catch phrase of the summer was “the debate is over” as TV broadcasts provided a platform for Gore to promote his film and himself. Networks had no trouble making their love for Gore public. The newly crowned movie star was discussed on at least 99 television shows and had no less than 75 appearances or clips involving Gore. By the end of July, Gore and his movie had spent more than five hours and 38 minutes on national television.
Gore Ready for the White House – Gore has not occupied the White House as president, but some in the media still recall wistfully the 2000 election. Nowhere was this better illustrated than Gore’s appearance on “Saturday Night Live” as the “overwhelmingly elected” President of the United States. When media personalities weren’t discussing the 2000 election, they were entertaining thoughts of a Gore campaign in 2008.
The Worst Offender – CNN was by far the worst offender with a total of 38 appearances by the former vice president. These amounted to one hour and 45 minutes of airtime for Gore. CNN would have spent less time on Gore if they had just gone ahead and shown his 94-minute documentary. ABC came in a distant second with 18 appearances.
Al Gore, Movie Star – Gore was hailed as a movie star on TV and in print media. From his celebrity’s welcome at “The View” to his stint as cover boy for Entertainment Weekly, Gore enjoyed promotional perks reserved for the media’s red-carpet favorites.