Barbara Walters Brings in 7.7 Million for 2014 Most Fascinating People Special

By Chris Ariens 

WaltersClooneyBarbara Walters returned for another “Most Fascinating” special last night, averaging 7.7 million viewers. Walters, who retired earlier this year from day-to-day work at ABC News, increased the timeslot for ABC by 57% in Total Viewers over original dramas that aired on the same night last year.

The second hour of the 2-hour special finished second in the timeslot, behind NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.” The 2014 edition was watched by 1.1 million fewer viewers than last year’s special which aired on a Wednesday night, and was billed as Walters’ final “Most Fascinating” special.

Walters named Amal Clooney as the Most Fascinating person of 2014. Walters didn’t get an interview with Mrs. George Clooney, but she aired several of her past interviews with Mr. George Clooney, including the 1995 chat where he said he would never marry again. “I know I’m never going to get married again because i wasn’t very good at it,” Clooney told Walters.

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So, will Barbara be back next year?

At the end of the special, Walters said, “This is probably the very last one of these specials I will be doing. But I told you that last year, so I’m not going to put too fine a point on it. Let me just say this is absolutely most likely the last of these specials…maybe.”

Walters also thanked viewers for watching all these years.”Let me also add that it has been such a pleasure to come into your homes, your computers, and your mobile devices just before the holidays,” Walters said, adding, “This program was designed to showcase fascinating people, but it wouldn’t have lasted all these years without an intelligent audience that was truly fascinated by the world around them.”

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