• by David Kaplan , June 22, 2005

The not guilty verdict reached by jurors in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial not only saved Jacko from the slammer, but the outcome may have led to a resuscitated career for the one-time "King of Pop."

Radio airplay increased dramatically after the decision was handed down on June 13, according to Mediabase 24/7, the Premiere Radio Networks-owned research company said Monday.

For the three days leading up to the verdict, June 10-12, Jackson airplay from his solo career and The Jackson 5 totaled 1,043 plays on Mediabase's 1,528 monitored radio stations. The number of spins nearly tripled to a total of 3,013 from June 10-15, said Rich Meyer, Mediabase's president.

According to Mediabase, the top 10 most played tracks were as follows: 1) "Billie Jean," 2) "Beat It," 3) "Rock With You," 4) "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," 5) "Thriller," 6) "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," 7) "Bad," 8) "P.Y.T." (Pretty Young Thing), 9) "The Way You Make Me Feel," and 10) "Smooth Criminal."

Mediabase 24/7 provides research to more than 1,650 affiliate radio stations in the United States and Canada on a barter-subscription basis, and it monitors more than 1,700 radio stations in 175 U.S. and Canadian markets.

"There was an absolute spike in airplay subsequent to the reading of the verdict," said Meyer. "Only time will tell whether the increased airplay will be sustained."

The Jackson verdict was also good to Court TV.

According to Nielsen Media Research, nearly 31 million viewers watched the Michael Jackson verdict live Monday on 13 networks. But when the Jackson verdict was announced between 5:00 and 5:15 p.m., Court TV delivered a record 3.4 household rating, equating to 3.4 million total viewers--the largest audience ever delivered by Court TV, said Carole Shander, a Court TV representative.

Court TV also scored impressive demographic ratings: 1.4 adults 18-49 and 1.6 adults 25-54--both figures ranking number one among cable news networks, Shander said.