Here’s Jay! Jay Leno is America’s Favorite Television Personality

Cantankerous Dr. House, Hugh Laurie, comes in second

Maybe it’s his new 10 pm nightly show, but whatever it is, Jay Leno has become America’s favorite TV personality for the first time, moving up from number 3 last year. TV’s crankiest doctor, or rather Hugh Laurie, the man who plays Doctor House, is number 2 on the list, up from number 4 last year and last year’s number one, Ellen DeGeneres, is now at number 3. Rounding out the top 5 television personalities are two talk show hosts, Oprah Winfrey at number 4 and David Letterman at number 5.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll® of 2,388 U.S. adults surveyed online between December 9 and 15, 2008 by Harris Interactive®.

More than Two and a Half Men

Next on the top ten list of America’s favorite television personalities is Jon Stewart, of The Daily Show, at number 6, down from number 5 last year. Then there are two new-comers to the list – Charlie Sheen of Two and a Half Men, and Steve Carrell of The Office, debuting at number 7 and 8 respectively. Finally, rounding out the list and tied at number 9 are Stephen Colbert, down from number 6 last year, and Mark Harmon of NCIS who is new to the list this year.

Some actors are just Lost

As there are three new stars on our top ten list this year that means three people have dropped off of the list, including Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, who was number 8 last year. Also, it seems everyone does not love Ray as Ray Romano; who was tied for number 9 last year. Homer Simpson, who was also tied for number 9, has also fallen from the list.

Different Groups have their own Greatest American Hero, or rather Favorite TV Star

Different groups have different favorites. Men, for example, choose Jay Leno as their favorite television star while women say their favorite is Ellen DeGeneres. Women are also divided among themselves. For single women, their number one is Hugh Laurie, while Ellen is tops for married women.

Different age groups also make different choices. Among Echo Boomers (those aged 18-31) Hugh Laurie is number one, and for Generation Xers (those aged 32-43) it’s a tie between Hugh Laurie and Ellen DeGeneres. Jay Leno is tops among both Baby Boomers (those aged 44-62) and Matures (those aged 63 and older).

Forget candidates, there are also partisan and ideological differences for favorite television star. Republicans and Independents say Jay Leno is their favorite while Democrats prefer Ellen DeGeneres. Liberals go for the dry political humor of Jon Stewart and Moderates say Jay Leno is their favorite. Conservatives stray from the talk show genre; their favorite is Hugh Laurie.

Just the Ten of Us Broken Down

In this year’s top ten, there is one predominant group of television stars – talk show hosts. Six of the ten are talk show hosts, two daytime and four nighttime hosts. There are also two sitcom stars and two drama stars.

Methodology

This Harris Poll® was conducted online within the United States December 9 and 15, among 2,388 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. Full data tables and methodology are available at www.harrisinteractive.com

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com

Harris Interactive Inc. 01/09

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