Let us recognize two men of great vision who shaped the minds of television viewers and Lycos users alike this week: Mark Burnett and Vince McMahon.
They are the men behind, respectively, Survivor (#7) and the XFL (#8), which each followed up television ratings victory with online dominance on this week's Lycos 50.
Survivor left no doubt as to which show was the king of reality programming, as searches went up six times after the show's Sunday premiere. Survivor was as popular online as it was on the air, where its ratings beat NBC's Friends in its first regular Thursday showing.
One spot below is the XFL, which laid its doubters to waste with this week's phenomenal showing. We are proud to have spotlighted the XFL since last fall, and this week the new league delivered. Saturday's first XFL game received 25 percent higher ratings than a November baseball playoff game between the Yankees and Mariners, which was broadcast on the same night on the same network.
While a number of sportswriters continue to slam the XFL as "trash football," it is pretty clear the audience is strong. Here at the Lycos 50, we believe that the XFL is popular because people just like football. After all, the NFL (#37) gets a higher in-season ranking than any other sports league, and it stays popular after the season ends. While trash may sell, football sells too, and the XFL is now more popular online than the even trashier organization which spawned it, the WWF (#15). All those searchers looking for XFL fantasy football and XFL depth charts aren't watching just for the cheerleaders.
On the other hand, the XFL's first big breakout star isn't a player -- not even Las Vegas running back Rod "He Hate Me" Smart. It's sideline reporter Carol Grow, who was featured in some sexy footage on the XFL website. Grow searches went up 150 percent, and she is more popular this week than singer Janet Jackson or WCW girl Tylene Buck.
BRITNEY AND THE BOYS: Speaking of football popularity, the Super Bowl (#9) maintained its prominence this week thanks to buzz about the halftime show featuring 'N Sync (#38), Aerosmith, and Britney Spears' flesh (#2). 'N Sync searches actually dropped, but Aerosmith searches doubled, and Britney searches went up 40 percent to get her within shouting distance of #1 Dragonball. 16 percent of Super Bowl searches requested the halftime show, and 12 percent requested Britney in particular.
(Did you enjoy the screaming girls brought in to hold signs like We love you Justin and We love you Steven? Girls, Steven Tyler is old enough to be your grandfather.)
Once again, Super Bowl commercials (#17) get their own spot in the Lycos 50. Tomorrow we will take a look at which companies saw searches grow thanks to Super Bowl ads -- and which companies wasted their money.
PENNSYLVANIA 6-5000: Punxsutawney Phil's annual bout of shadow-boxing drew an online crowd once again, as Groundhog Day ranked at #10. Phil saw his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter, but Lycos users didn't see their spell checks, meaning searches for Punxatawney Phil, Punxatawny Phil, Puxatawny Phil, Puxatony Phil, and the much simpler Groundhog Phil.
SMALL WONDER: The latest demi-celebrity to see searches rise thanks to an appearance on the Howard Stern show is midget porn star Bridget the Midget. No, we're not kidding. Searches for Bridget and her decidedly adult website went up more than 3000 percent. She is more popular this week than Shaggy, the reggae artist who has the top song on this week's Billboard chart. Never, ever underestimate the power of Howard.
SHORT SUBJECTS: It isn't often that a cable television epic makes waves online, but USA Network's Attila the Hun (#25) sent a surprising number of Lycos users scurrying for Hun information? Users also spent the week checking out two big news stories, the drop in mortgage rates (#19) and the earthquake in Gujarat, India (#28)? Nascar (#45) season begins with the Daytona 500 February 18, just about the time that pitchers and catchers report to baseball (#50) spring training? Just below the Lycos 50, lots of action for prefab boy band O-Town, the new movie Hannibal, and Maxim covergirl Denise Richards.
NEW THIS WEEK: Survivor, Groundhog Day, Super Bowl commercials, mortgage rates, Attila the Hun, India earthquake, Black History Month, Nascar, Carmen Electra, baseball.
DROPOUTS: Chinese New Year, George W. Bush and his daughter Jenna Bush, Golden Globes, Australian Open, mystery invention IT/Ginger, presidential pardons, snowboarding, diets, Oprah Winfrey.
BIGGEST RISE: XFL, up 22 places to #8.
BIGGEST DROP: Lord of the Rings, down 15 places to #49.
ONE YEAR AGO: The launch of the website FreeScholarships.com led to a genuine frenzy online and a #16 ranking. The site was dead by November, another dot-com carcass.
