Ratings show popularity of Binion case

Single Sign-On: You can use Facebook account to log in to LasVegasSun.com. (We will use your first and last name from your profile.)
Trusted Commenting: Facebook connected users automatically become trusted commenters.

Valerie Miller

Thursday, May 25, 2000 | 11:06 a.m.

Seventy-four percent of Las Vegas households watching TV Friday night were tuned in to live coverage of the Binion murder trial, watching Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish receive guilty verdicts in the killing of gaming figure Ted Binion.

Local stations and Las Vegas One reached a combined high of a 42.1 rating, based on all households in the Las Vegas market with televisions, when Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish were pronounced guilty by the Binion jury.

Viewers were also glued to their televisions for Wednesday's penalty verdicts. Seventy percent of households watching television were tuned in to the trial coverage, according to Nielsen Media Ratings. That garnered an overall 42.6 rating for the coverage.

"Those are numbers that are typically reached only during Super Bowl or major television events," Terry McFarlane of Channel 8.