Fox News ratings down 19%, Glen Beck down 33%, CNN down 40%.....MSNBC chillin
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Swiffness!
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The latest quarterly Nielsen ratings reveal a promising trend in cable news viewership. This has been a challenging time for all media and, while cable has been relatively stable, it has not been immune from a general advertising slump and softening audience.
While all three of the major cable news networks suffered primetime declines, MSNBC held its audience best, losing only 6% in the past quarter. By comparison Fox News dropped three times as much (-19%), and CNN collapsed (-40%).
CNN’s woes are not particularly surprising. They have utterly failed to define themselves in this era of advocacy journalism. Their approach to a middleground, news-centric broadcast is admirable, but poorly implemented. If they were truly interested in focusing on straight news, they would abandon the pretense of balancing every story on the basis of partisanship and instead balance it on the basis of truth. In other words, stop booking liars just to have a counter-argument. If one guest says the moon is a barren, rocky satellite, you do not need an opposing guest to assert that it’s lime Jello. Or if you do host the lime Jello spokesman, at least offer some post-debate analysis that makes it clear that the Jello argument is known to be false.
MSNBC has benefited in an ironic way by not having had a meteoric rise. Their numbers have been depressed by poor cable coverage and placement on premium tiers. As a result, they have had less distance to fall. Their performance appears to be better on a relative basis simply by maintaining a steady course.
More surprising is the precipitous drop at Fox News. They have been enjoying a surge in the past few years, even when their competition was hurting. For them to get hit so hard this quarter is a significant development. Fox has relied upon a fierce sense of loyalty on the part of their viewers to prop up their ratings. I have described it as something of cult (the Cult of Foxonality) wherein Fox viewers are actually more devoted to the network than to any political party of philosophy. The ratings this quarter suggest that the hold that Fox has had on its audience is weakening.
As evidence of Fox’s diminishing influence, take a look at their biggest star, Glenn Beck. He has lost fully one third of his audience since the beginning of the year. Apparently people are tiring of his redundant, hyperbolic screeds pronouncing that half of the Obama administration are communists and the other half are Satanists. He may also have lost viewers when he called the President a racist and when he insulted Christians by warning them to flee their church if it practiced social justice.
Beck has other problems as well. He has undoubtedly been hurt by an advertiser boycott that has seen a couple of hundred advertisers swear off his program. In the UK he is airing with no advertisers at all. In this environment, how long can Fox News justify keeping him on the schedule? They waved off the ad boycott by bragging about his ratings. With neither ads nor viewers, the only thing they have left is an unpopular clown act that is descending further into televangelism with every episode.
http://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/
While all three of the major cable news networks suffered primetime declines, MSNBC held its audience best, losing only 6% in the past quarter. By comparison Fox News dropped three times as much (-19%), and CNN collapsed (-40%).
CNN’s woes are not particularly surprising. They have utterly failed to define themselves in this era of advocacy journalism. Their approach to a middleground, news-centric broadcast is admirable, but poorly implemented. If they were truly interested in focusing on straight news, they would abandon the pretense of balancing every story on the basis of partisanship and instead balance it on the basis of truth. In other words, stop booking liars just to have a counter-argument. If one guest says the moon is a barren, rocky satellite, you do not need an opposing guest to assert that it’s lime Jello. Or if you do host the lime Jello spokesman, at least offer some post-debate analysis that makes it clear that the Jello argument is known to be false.
MSNBC has benefited in an ironic way by not having had a meteoric rise. Their numbers have been depressed by poor cable coverage and placement on premium tiers. As a result, they have had less distance to fall. Their performance appears to be better on a relative basis simply by maintaining a steady course.
More surprising is the precipitous drop at Fox News. They have been enjoying a surge in the past few years, even when their competition was hurting. For them to get hit so hard this quarter is a significant development. Fox has relied upon a fierce sense of loyalty on the part of their viewers to prop up their ratings. I have described it as something of cult (the Cult of Foxonality) wherein Fox viewers are actually more devoted to the network than to any political party of philosophy. The ratings this quarter suggest that the hold that Fox has had on its audience is weakening.
As evidence of Fox’s diminishing influence, take a look at their biggest star, Glenn Beck. He has lost fully one third of his audience since the beginning of the year. Apparently people are tiring of his redundant, hyperbolic screeds pronouncing that half of the Obama administration are communists and the other half are Satanists. He may also have lost viewers when he called the President a racist and when he insulted Christians by warning them to flee their church if it practiced social justice.
Beck has other problems as well. He has undoubtedly been hurt by an advertiser boycott that has seen a couple of hundred advertisers swear off his program. In the UK he is airing with no advertisers at all. In this environment, how long can Fox News justify keeping him on the schedule? They waved off the ad boycott by bragging about his ratings. With neither ads nor viewers, the only thing they have left is an unpopular clown act that is descending further into televangelism with every episode.
http://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/
Comments
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MSNBC stay shittin on fox
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Thanks Libertarians for Glenn Beck's demise. I hate that ? with a passion because he tries to pass himself off as a libertarian from time to time but is just a Neo-Con in hiding.
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bornnraisedoffCMR wrote: »Thanks Libertarians for Glenn Beck's demise. I hate that ? with a passion because he tries to pass himself off as a libertarian from time to time but is just a Neo-Con in hiding.
lmao, yeah I was wondering how much longer he could get away with that
dude's about as much a libertarian as Cheney -
*Double U*
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Swiffness! wrote: »lmao, yeah I was wondering how much longer he could get away with that
dude's about as much a libertarian as Cheney
Seriously bruh, I'll see if I could find it but when Glenn Beck tried to paint Debra Medina as a 9/11 Truther his rating went south fast. The Libertarians are a small but very active group and it's growing. There is just a spit in the group, some wanting to start a 3rd Party, and others wanting to infiltrate the Republican Party, and others just turned off by the political process completely. I would prefer a 3rd Party but that ? is almost a guaranteed L right now with the way the system is set up. -
bornnraisedoffCMR wrote: »Seriously bruh, I'll see if I could find it but when Glenn Beck tried to paint Debra Medina as a 9/11 Truther his rating went south fast. The Libertarians are a small but very active group and it's growing. There is just a spit in the group, some wanting to start a 3rd Party, and others wanting to infiltrate the Republican Party, and others just turned off by the political process completely. I would prefer a 3rd Party but that ? is almost a guaranteed L right now with the way the system is set up.
interesting. so are u in the totally put off sect? -
interesting...fox news is utter bs. i sometimes watch jus to get a good laugh.
but i do watch NBC nightly news, Keith Oberman sometimes. but the best news/opinon show is Bill Maher. -
I watch comedy central around 11:00 pm.
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I dont watch any TV news....maybe Fox Business Channel since they have Stossel.
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interesting...fox news is utter bs. i sometimes watch jus to get a good laugh
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I watch the shows for a laugh to especially Glen Beck dude might as well become a comedian. He has alot of screws missing in his head
lol.....he IS a comedian. He did a stand-up tour and everything.
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Too bad all 3 of those channels ? SUCK.
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thats what the internet does to ya..
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shootemwon wrote: »Too bad all 3 of those channels ? SUCK.
I (need enough characters here) agree. -
Well that's certainely refreshing.
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Guess people got tired of the "Barack is a socialistcommunistantichristhitlerreincarnate" spiel...
whoda thunk it... -
Oberman to Obama= Hannity to Bush
Maheris like Dennis Miller, not a slave to any individual or party but an unrepented left winger just like Miller is an unrepented right winger, both are funny -
jon stewart stay ETHERING fox. name sumbody other then john on who went on o'reilly's show, and not only ethered him, but also the whole network. this man went to the lions den, and walked out wit a lion's fur outfit lol.