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Americans think Michael Jackson's death is getting too much coverage, says new HCD Research study

Published on Thursday, July 02, 2009

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63% of respondents in a national study say Jackson’s death is being over-covered, compared to the media attention given to Farah Fawcett’s death, which occurred about the same time. HCD surveyed 1,850 people on Wednesday, July 1, using its MediaCurves website. Interestingly, 80% of the respondents also say they're engaged in the Michael Jackson story when exposed to it by the media. Read the HCD study here. Radio seems to be picking up the same vibe, according to Mediabase. Its followup report on airplay says that airplay “remains strong”, a week after the entertainer’s death. “Billie Jean” is still the most-played MJ song. But the Mediabase numbers for total spins are definitely down from Friday, June 26, the first day after Jackson’s death. Here’s the tally, day by day: Wednesday, June 24 – 511. Thursday – 15,551. Friday – 34,371. Saturday – 17,153. Sunday – 11,851. Monday – 4,166. Tuesday, 2,531. Wednesday – 2,060. Mediabase says even so – “a full week later, airplay is still more than four times what it was prior to Jackson’s passing.”

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