The race for 1 million followers on Twitter is on: In one corner is CNN; in the other, Ashton Kutcher. Just a few weeks ago, no one was close to reaching that benchmark. Now, as users have flocked to the increasingly popular microblogging site, the numbers have grown. CNN's breaking news feed is in the lead with more than 945,000 followers as of late Wednesday. Britney Spears and Kutcher were neck-and-neck in second, both with around 910,000 followers. Kutcher has seen his followers increase by tens of thousands in the last day. The 31-year-old actor recently threw down the gauntlet, challenging CNN and its founder, Ted Turner. In a Web video posted earlier this week, Kutcher said he would ding-dong-ditch Turner's house if he beat CNN to 1 million. (For those unfamiliar with the classic adolescent prank, ding-dong-ditch is when you ring someone's doorbell and run away.) In postings on Twitter, Kutcher said he was fielding interview requests, including one from CNN's Larry King. He was mulling the offers and claiming it was a “saga for the Internet,” not TV. Not to be outdone, King posted a video on YouTube boasting the wrath of his company and sounding a lot like Ned Beatty's TV network chairman in the 1976 film “Network.” Said King: “Are you kidding? Do you think you can take on an entire network? Do you know how big we are? Do you know what CNN is? Kutcher, you're playing out of your field. You're in another time zone. This ain't gonna work. CNN will bury you!” And if you're wondering who's in fourth, the Twitter feed for Ellen DeGeneres and her talk show, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” is trailing with about 800,000 followers – a number large enough to dance about, at least.
