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.
The dilemma for Fox News is complicated. From the start they have been on a mission to advance the conservative philosophy of their owner, Rupert Murdoch, and his henchman, Roger Ailes. Unfortunately for them, they have failed miserably in that regard. They threw everything they had at the Democrats and still lost control of Congress in 2006, lost the White House in 2008, and lost the health care debate in 2010. Despite their ratings dominance they have not been able to convert it to their electoral advantage. What happens when their ratings dominance is gone?
The battle within the Fox executive suites will be one that pits the accountants against the ideologues. And let’s face it, in the rarefied air of Fox News, the accountants are toast. My money is on Fox News doubling down and expanding their partisan rhetoric. That’s what they’ve done in the past. In the months leading up to and following the Obama victory in 2008, Fox didn’t bother to recognize a national trend. Instead, they fortified their conservative flank by signing new long-term contracts with Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, and Sean Hannity. They axed Hannity’s foil, Alan Colmes. They hired reinforcements like Beck, Mike Huckabee, Karl Rove, Dana Perino, Judith Miller, and Sarah Palin. They are not the sort of competitors that back down in the face of adversity – or reason.
If Fox does escalate the wingnut war, they are making a poor bet. They already own the franchise on rightist zealots and are unlikely to gain viewers in that demographic. More likely they can expect to see their ratings decline further. Americans are sick of the divisive ravings of partisan shills who have to resort to making things up in order to sway the debate.
The good news is that since the audience for Fox News has declined, the collective IQ of the country has risen. OK, I made that up, but it seems entirely plausible. Fox News viewers have been shown to be notably less informed, or more misinformed, than the viewers of other networks or the public at large. So it stands to reason that the fewer people infected with Fox lies, the more intelligent we are as a nation. And going forward that can only be a boon to the development of public policy and to democracy itself.
Yes, I have to agree. With the ratings drop of FOX, the collective IQ has to have risen. I can’t handle watching either FOX or CNN anymore. It is just painful what the coverage is of at this point.
Hey Jonah. ‘sup? Thanks for dropping by.
And you’re quite right. Fox has been dumbing down America for years. And the rest of the media hasn’t done much better. That’s a bad state of affairs in a democracy where the people are expected to be smart enough to determine their future.
Jonah & Mark, both of you are fools, and ignorant of the most basic democratic principles. The whole point of having a free press is to keep our political leaders honest, and you should both be very scared MSNBC is so cozy with the Obama administration. While Fox absolutely skews its coverage right, at least it presents a counter-balancing force to the vast majority of liberal news coverage on TV today. In my mind, MSNBC is no better then Pravda, whose coverage was critical in enforcing Russian communism. Just stop for a minute and think about what you are saying!! We would all hate for MSNBC to serve in the same role in American socialism.
I doubt you ever watch MSNBC. If you did you would have seen them being critical of Obama on many occasions. Keith Olbermann was fiercely critical of Obama for abandoning the public option for health care, and for not pursuing legal action against those who committed torture.
What’s more, MSNBC has Joe Scarborough on every morning. When Fox gives its three hour morning block to a liberal former Democratic congressmen, then you can talk about bias.
dumb dumb. MSNBC may be cozy, but Fox news is no counterbalance. It is a poisoner of the debate, through lies, innuendos, factual deletion, red herrings. you name it. There’s a big difference and you don’t even know what socialism is, so stop throwing big words around.
You left this out
“The O’Reilly Factor,” “Glenn Beck,” and “Hannity” were the top three programs, respectively in cable news. “O’Reilly” averaged 2.99M total viewers (765K demo), “Beck” averaged 2.12M total viewers (577K demo), and “Hannity” averaged 2.07M total viewers (537K demo).
Reporting that Fox is the top rated network is like reporting that the sun came up this morning. It isn’t news. However, the fact that they are declining in a big way is news.
Also, The top rated Fox News program (O’Reilly) has fewer viewers than the lowest rated network news program (CBS/Couric), or even SpongeBob SquarePants. O’Reilly’s 3 million represent less than 1% percent of the population.
Just thought I’d add some perspective.
That’s the real perspective! Sort of like we need to get rid of all that foreign aid America so generously gives the world. 1% of the budget. I do know some people who tape (yes they don’t have Tivo or other cool stuff) O’Really and Heck so they don’t miss a word! Nice piece. Sending it to my world of Dems in North rural Texas. There are a few of us left!
Monday May 3rd ratings. Note that FSN is even in less HH’s!
5PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Glenn Beck – 2,202,000 viewers (630,000) (1,059,000)
Situation Room—692,000 viewers (246,000) (285,000)
Hardball w/ C. Matthews – 529,000 viewers (155,000) (247,000)
Fast Money – 259,000 viewers (56,000) (139,000)
Showbiz Tonight —222,000 viewers (85,000) (95,000)
Nielsen Cable Network Coverage Estimates (as of December, 2009)
CNN/HLN: 100.22 million HHs
CNBC: 97.59 million HHs
FNC: 98.04 million HHs
MSNBC: 93.0 million HHs
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
Viewers, like readers, know that everyone has an agenda, and tend to become irritated when they get sucked into a program or article with a catchy teaser only to find out that the producer/author is playing games with numbers.
I doubt that the childish play on words News.Corpse/News.Corp is missed by anyone capable of surfing the web, so a certain amount of bias is to be expected, but this is absurd.
If the article was talking about beer you’d have to say the promising trend is everyone is drinking less beer, and the worst beer in the country, that the fewest people drink, only lost 6% while Budweiser lost a whopping 19%.
Budweiser still has 54% of the market and all other brands must share the remaing 46%, but that’s not news.
Geez. Just letting you know that the info on here is incorrect. This is what is dumbing down the country. The lack of truth and knowledge. You should watch FOX. Only news program that talks the real deal.
“the info on here is incorrect”
Funny you don’t bother to cite what is incorrect. Typical Fox viewer – takes everything on faith.
HAHA! This is hilarious! I must say you guys have done this well, but still, even with the masterfully applied layer of BS most people can spot propaganda a mile away. Nice try, but this isn’t going to work either. Isn’t it funny how less and less people are believing anything the Obama media has to say. It’s true, you can only believe half of what you get on Fox, but half the truth told in good faith beats the hell out of bold faced lies told on purpose. Nice try, but people are way smarter than you think.
Laugh your ass off. People are smart enough to know that they should stop watching Fox.
“Run…as fast as you can” cries the HypnoToad. And they did. From his show. The good news is that it won’t affect his advertisers!
Whistling passed the graveyard once again?
Liberals are so out of touch with reality that I can’t help but be pleased. You see, when Arizona passes a real law to fight illegal immigration, the liberals are outraged at the “racist law” from poor, “misguided”, hopelessly foolish Arizonans. What they (libs)are oblivious to is the fact that Rassmusen polls show that 64% of Arizonans support the law. In a state where latinos are a huge portion of the population, then many latinos support the law. What is most funny is that the very same folks that support the law are the same ones whom will vote B. Obama’s
ass out of office, not to mention the carnage in nov.
But…by all means, insult those “idiotic”, “uneducated”, can barely get their pants on in the morning, Arizonans. It shows the level of delusion in the whitehouse.
Remember, this is a poll of “likely voters”. Given that one third of Arizonans are hispanic, and that this segment probably makes up the largest percentage of “unlikely voters”, I would say that it is more likely that ALL legal hispanics are AGAINST this law, as well as a few from other ethnic groups. I personally have NEVER heard from ANY Latino supporter of the bill either from AZ or anywhere else. Have you?
Our family may not be typical, and our Latino friends may not be either, but some of you have your pants on backwards if you think we want this country to end up worse than Mexico because you’re attracting the fast-buck gang members and the lowest of the low as far as education and job skills. Women and children are allowed to have bleeding hearts, but Latino men are expected to grow up. You guys are obviously not Latino.
One more thing…. Fox news would have to go blind and have a stroke in order to fall to a level where MSNBC’s ratings would even TIE with Fox’s numbers!
Some of the comments here are the same “Yes We Can” attitude we suffered through for years of Air America’s painfull epileptic fits. Thank God they finally croaked recently….and left investors broke and bills unpaid! The left is soo predictable.
Funny…..We’re not tired either BO!!
Look,all corporate media is for the masses,that means it can’t dispense anything but the most shallow intellectually insulting rhetoric…OR ELSE it goes right over the heads of the I.Q. challenged. The SLOW WITTED have to be made to feel like they are understanding of the issues. Besides ,Every single one ABC,CBS,MSNBC,CNN and Fox are horribly biased,FOX in particular is a master at lying by omission.
Life in the McCain-Palin, Fox, Hannity, Limbaugh Intelligent American Initiatives are Summed Up in the Name-Sake of what Was it? Oh Yeah; “DRILL,BABY DRILL!”
All of America’s Economic, Middle East & World Wide National Defense & what’s so right with the FOX,TEA PARTIERS IS EVIDENT IN THE GULF OF MEXICO TO THE LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI SHORES TO VALDEZ PALIN-BAIL OUT ALASKA- What is it; GANG Up ON OBAMA with Anything They Can, Republicans Don’t Care ’cause they have Theirs & the Chickens Will Never Come Home to Roost, is Also Summed Up Again in “DRILL-BABY-DRILL” OR “BURN-BABY-BURN,BABY” & “WHY HIRE LOCALLY EXCEPT FOR CHEAP LABOR WHILE REPUBLICAN MANUFACTURERS FARM-OUT LABOR OVER SEAS SO THEY DON’T HAVE TO PAY DECENT WAGES OR PROVIDE HEALTH INSURANCE WHILE THEY VACATION IN OIL SLICK PARADISE OR IN EUROPE!”
RUSH LIMBAUGH,SARAH PALIN, MICHELLE BACHMANN, SEAN HANNITY, GLENN BECK for PRESIDENT–
WHO CAN WE ‘TRUST’ WHO CAN “MULTI-TASK” & PLAY A SPORT AT THE SAME TIME & DOESN’T DEPEND ON OPIODS FOR ENERGY–
WHO WOULD IT BE WHO IS A FAMILY MAN–
ONLY ONE PERSON I KNOW OF–
MITT ROMNEY? TOO CULTISH!
BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, WHO DOESN’T BELIEVE IN “ABORTION!”
“DRILL, BABY DRILL, WITH THE CAPS KEY IS STUCK DOWN!”
Libsmasher,
Keep it up. I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see you wingnuts tearing apart the Republican party from the inside out. You realize of course that the Republicans have absolutely NO chance of pulling off a Presidential victory in 2012 without at least half of the Hispanic vote. Good luck, bozo.
I love this kind of stuff, lol……….
The author of this article claims that FOX news “makes stuff up” then goes on to admit in his own article here that he himself is making stuff up, lol………
We should revere this author for making stuff up but hate FOX news for “making stuff up” that cant and isnt refuted, roflmfao……..
The “spin” of the author is making him dizzy, lol…….
Thanks, I love it too.
I especially love it when wingnuts can’t grasp irony or humor, which is the context in which I “admitted” that I made something up.
You’d think it would be obvious since the point I allegedly made up concerned the collective IQ of the country rising because they watched less Fox News. If you thought that was serious then maybe it’s more true than I thought.
By the way, even in jest, at least I admitted that I made something up. Fox just broadcasts their lies without ever owning up to it.
A very laughable attempt at spinning the ratings. MSNBC has been in the cellar for years, and because they fell just a little bit lower into the cellar, they can breathe a sigh of relief? Say what? And you are ignoring the Media Bistro headline that you linked to: “Fox News hits 100 months at No. 1.” That’s over 8 years, in case you’re wondering.
“People are smart enough to know that they should stop watching Fox…”
No, people are smart enough to know they shouldn’t drink any pop while reading your nonsensical posts. Snorting a carbonated beverage out your nose can be painful.
Ok. you cant be serious scott. its idiots like you that give us republicans a bad name. Its not the democratic party thats killing the republican party, its limbaugh, beck, and o’reilly. people on the fence, like myself will not be voting for ANYONE favored by these classy shows. They are great for the retirement home. Their bald lies will fit in with all the other bald things in the retirement home.
To paraphrse Harry, “There are three kinds of lies. Lies, damn Lies and Fox News.
O’Reilly was vacationing in the Caribbean for 9 days. Laura Ingraham and Juan Williams did his show. When the top dog is out, some of the rest suffer. My prediction, in June, Fox will be back up.
Face it, if one wants real news that is in reality “Fair and Balanced” then listen, don’t watch. While I don’t agree with how Juan Was canned, the subsequent coverage of the story by NPR was excellent. This is why NPR has become the benchmark for news coverage. In the meantime the Fox News clown show of mind numbing tedium is failing into the deserved reputation of being sad and pathetic, while being neither amusing of informative. Americans are wise, but sometimes a little slow on the uptake, “Bright shiny object…”