NEW YORK (AP) — A giant audience formed for Michael Jackson's memorial service, as millions gathered in public, in front of televisions and at computer screens to experience the mourning of the celebrated pop star.

"There are certain people in our popular culture that just capture people's imaginations. And in death, they become even larger," said President Barack Obama, who was asked about the outpouring of emotion related to Michael Jackson's death during an interview with CBS while he was in Moscow. "Now, I have to admit that it's also fed by a 24/7 media that is insatiable."

The media-saturated event was expected to rival the online audience of Obama's January inauguration — which similarly was a daytime event witnessed by many on their computers at work.

Aside from the wall-to-wall coverage by the TV networks and cable news channels, the memorial service was streamed online by many news outlets and Web sites, including KVAL.com.

Not all the coverage was virtual.

Cinedigm Digital Cinema Network carried the memorial service on its live digital network in more than 80 movie theaters nationwide.

Crowds watched the broadcast in New York's Times Square and in Harlem near the Apollo Theater, where the Jackson 5 won "Amateur Night" in 1967. Jackson impersonator Moses Harper, teary-eyed at the sight of the singer's casket, danced Jackson's version of "Ease on Down the Road," from the musical "The Wiz."

"I'm just grateful that I got to live in his time," said Harper.

At the same time, others have grown tired of the continual coverage of Jackson's death, believing it has overshadowed more important news and that Jackson — who was tried and acquitted of sexually abusing a child in 2005 — doesn't deserve such attention.

A Pew Research Center poll published last week found that 64 percent of those surveyed said Jackson's death has received too much coverage.

"In Ireland we like a good funeral, so we'll be tuning in. There's no good sports match on tonight anyway," said barman Peadar O Docherty, 24, in the Stag's Head pub in central Dublin.

But, he added, "a lot of the adulation is completely over the top."