Charlie Sheen, the Two and a Half Men actor not only holds an audience, he can hold 5.5 million viewers coming from his interview in Today with Matt Lauer.
In his interview on Tuesday, Charlie Sheen decided to speak out on his HIV diagnosis in a rare sit down with Lauer. The interview racked up 5.5 million viewers which is well over the average hits for the Today show. The interview was not a scheduled exclusive. It took sometime for Sheen to build his courage up to that point when he became ready to tell the world that he is HIV Positive.
The comedian actor told Matt Lauer that he tested positive four years ago for the virus that causes AIDS and the sit-down with Sheen brought the exceptional winning edge for the network in the key demo and total viewers ratings.
Even with little notice, the 5.5 million rating crushed its arch-rival, ABC's Good Morning America by 803,000 viewers. The show also covered the news demo group of 25-54 year old adults, grabbing 2.3 million viewers. Which is 542,000 more viewers in the coveted key demo group than GMA. The rare win comes after ten weeks and is currently besting GMA by six percent.
The ratings would probably go well over 5.5 million of the exclusive interview if it was announced prior to the show, as told in a post by EW.
In related news, Martin Sheen applauded his son for speaking out about his illness and also for having the courage to go public with his diagnosis. He said this at an event staged at the Ritz-Carlton resort in Naples, Florida. Martin hopes that the day that Charlie spoke out (in the interview with Lauer) would be the first day of the rest of his son's life as a free man, as told by People.
