This past Sunday's special Meet The Press racked up some 6 million viewers, bringing the show's second-highest ratings ever — only the MTP the Sunday after 9/11 did better, with just under 9 million viewers. Compare that against the show's average 3.9 million viewers. MSNBC's viewership on Friday, after Tim Russert's death was announced, spiked 220 percent; competing cable networks faired well, also. So when Jack Shafer wonders, among many other critics, what "possessed NBC News to televise a never-ending video wake," and why other networks followed suit, well, there you go. It wasn't so much any of the networks' interest to boost ratings (though the cynic in us suggests otherwise), but Russert's death clearly impacted Americans the way any high-profile passing does, and the news divisions fed that beast.