Rob Ford saga dominated U.S. headlines in November, analysis suggests

WASHINGTON – A new media-monitoring analysis suggests the Rob Ford saga received more intensive media coverage in the United States than any other Canadian news story since the turn of the century.

The analysis was conducted by Montreal-based Influence Communications and released to The Canadian Press.

It says that if the Toronto mayor were an advertiser trying to buy up all the global media space his story occupied over the month of November, it would have cost him $1.1 billion.

Ford earned international notoriety last month when he admitted having smoked crack cocaine, “probably in one of my drunken stupors.” Ford has apologized and insists he’s not an addict.

Influence says Ford got 1.4 times more coverage in the U.S. than the Lac-Megantic train disaster; more than both the Luka Magnotta and Robert Pickton murder cases; and six times the coverage of Chris Hadfield’s space mission.

The U.S. media has clearly moved on: coverage has dropped almost 90 per cent from its peak last month. But it’s not over for Ford yet — CBS Radio says the Toronto mayor will participate in a weekly sports talk show.