Day: 5/29/2013

Fox News Ratings: Fanning The Flames Of Scandal Pays Off – Sort Of

Posted by on May 29, 2013 at 4:57 pm. 8 Comments :

If you’ve ever wondered what Fox News gets out of its frenzied pursuit of controversy, look no further than the Nielsen ratings for the month of May 2013.

For Fox News 2013 began by delivering the network its worst numbers in twelve years. They saw their top programs losing viewers with double digit percentages. Bill O’Reilly dropped 25%, and Sean Hannity declined 19%. This occurred while their competition, Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow, increased their audiences by 23% and 32% respectively. It was dismal performance for Fox and omen of bad times to come.

A few months later, Fox has seen a noticeable bounce that will surely brighten their mood. The recovery can be entirely attributed to the bucket of scandals they have been serving up to their bloodthirsty, Obama-hating disciples. Nothing inspires wingnut viewer loyalty like the catastrophic misfortune of one’s enemies.

The numbers for May find Fox up 24% overall compared to the same period in 2012. While that may appear to be good news, there are hazards lurking in the ratings weeds. Take a look at this chart that contrasts Fox’s primetime total audience with their weak reach among the more highly valued 25-54 year old age group.

Fox News Ratings
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The month of May was heavily weighted down by melodramatic news events that would appeal to Fox’s native audience. There would not likely be any migration to or from other networks during this time. CNN also benefited from the hard news orientation that is their area of expertise. Not surprisingly, MSNBC, who has soared in recent months, slowed down during this period due to their narrow focus on politics at a time when viewers were seeking out hard news. Even HLN had a solid month due to the various courtroom dramas that were playing out (Arias, Gosnell, etc.).

What is particularly striking though, is that Fox would produce such large gains overall and still decline substantially in the younger demos that advertisers favor. This is further evidence that Fox’s audience is graying at a rapid rate. This means that they will earn far less for their ad time than their competitors who attract a larger share of the demo audience. It also means that they will suffer over time as audiences age.

However, it is inescapable that Fox’s obsession with hyperbolic attacks on President Obama and his administration is not resonating with younger viewers. Fox is repeating the mistakes they committed last year by harping on wild conspiracies, extreme rightist rhetoric, and fantastical allegations for which they have no support. That’s the sort of behavior that turned them into a laughing stock and produced an audience that was stunned when Republicans cratered at the ballot box. The same sort of shock is going to strike Fox viewers when these myriad scandals all peter out. Their gullible audience will once again wonder how Fox could have assured them that the Obama administration was near collapse, but nothing close to that takes place. If there is one constant that Fox is careful to maintain, it is their determination to mislead their flock by feeding them the fringe-flavored chum they crave.

The near future will likely be more of the same barring any unforeseen circumstances. There are no predictable events on the horizon (i.e. elections) that are likely to stir the pot. Although the currently simmering pseudo-scandals may still have a little heat in them, and the Supreme Court will be dropping some decisions this summer. Other than that, stay tuned to be underwhelmed, unless you’re Fox viewer. In which case — be afraid, be very afraid.

Glenn Beck’s Latest Conspiracy Theory: The Media Is Conspiring To Label Him A Conspiracy Theorist

Posted by on May 29, 2013 at 11:55 am. 8 Comments :

Before anyone asks — No, that headline is not from The Onion. And the best way to demonstrate the lunacy in Glenn Beck’s most recent harangue is to let Beck do it himself:

Glenn Beck
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“The media has a story line and an agenda, and they will get to it. And they certainly don’t want anybody to ever think that anything is ever planned. The media has their own agenda, and if the media has a storyline, it just writes it in. And currently the storyline is ‘conspiracy theorist.’

“Now why…why would that be the agenda item now? Why is it a concentrated effort, more than any other time in my career, why is it a concentrated effort now to label me a conspiracy theorist? Well, I’ll tell you why. It goes back to Cass Sunstein. It is exactly what he wrote. He said government should call anyone who stands against them a conspiracy theorist.

“This isn’t a conspiracy theory. This is what he wrote about. Even if it turns out to be true, you have to label people as a conspiracy theorist because it isolates them. So that’s exactly what’s happening now and I don’t really care. I mean I knew from like four years ago, I’m not getting out of this with my name or reputation. That’s fine.”

Apparently the incident that touched off this rant was Beck’s accusation that CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was set up by an atheist activist on his staff prior to interviewing an Oklahoma tornado survivor who declined Blitzer’s invitation to thank God because she was non-believer. For some reason Beck doesn’t consider his theory that Blitzer’s staff conspired against him to be a conspiracy theory.

However, what’s truly and remarkably hysterical about Beck’s persistent paranoia and deviant Messiah complex is his belief that there is some new found agenda on the part of the media to label him a conspiracy theorist. First of all, the media has played no part in Beck’s conspiratorial psychosis. He has done that all by himself. And secondly, it certainly isn’t new. How many conspiracies does Beck have to theorize before his reputation is established? Here are just a few:

  • Beck spewed some delusional ravings about a Saudi man Beck believed was the

    • mastermind of the Boston marathon bombing.

  • Beck claimed that the man who showed up at the Houston airport firing an AR-15, and later committing suicide, was some sort of setup directed at the NRA’s convention being held in Houston.
  • Beck published a book titled “Agenda 21” that is based on a nightmare fable of the United Nations subjugating the world to slavery on the pretense of building sustainable communities.
  • Beck is certain that the art and architecture of Manhattan conceals communist propaganda.
  • Beck has discovered that the whole birther mess was actually devised and implemented by a scheming White House in an attempt to divert attention away from a dastardly blueprint to bankrupt America and deliver its carcass to her enemies.

Beck’s reference to Cass Sunstein is a reprise of his classic mania that consisted of wild and unsupported blathering about Sunstein, George Soros, Cloward and Piven, Saul Alinsky, the United Nations, the Muslim Brotherhood, and others who were all engaged in a clandestine plot, with the help of the media, to abolish freedom.

And that is just the low-hanging fruitcake. Beck has also produced programs that insist that there is a coordinated plot between the Godless communists and the extremist Muslims to build a global Muslim Caliphate. He aired a three day special accusing George Soros of being the “Puppet Master” behind virtually every dastardly deed you can think of. He has hounded Van Jones, Shirley Sherrod, ACORN, and others relentlessly as co-conspirators in the march to Armageddon. And he has claimed so many times that the “Perfect Storm” that will herald humanity’s demise is upon us that it’s hard to keep count.

That isn’t conspiratorial at all, is it?

Michele Bachmann Abandoning Ship As Perfect Storm Approaches

Posted by on May 29, 2013 at 10:34 am. 1 Comments :

It’s hard to say who will be hurt most by Michele Bachmann’s announcement that she will not seek reelection – The congressional Tea Party Caucus or America’s comedy writers.

Michele Bachmann

There is no doubt that Bachmann has been the source of endless material for mockery. Her surreal extremism, coupled with a passion for self-promotion, combined to pack a walloping punch of political psychopathy. But according to Bachmann, her exit from the congressional stage must not be viewed as any sort of weakness on her part as a candidate (despite nearly losing last November), nor any commentary on the fact that investigations into her finances have blossomed from the congressional ethics committee to the FBI.

ThinkProgress has complied an entertaining review of Bachmann’s career in congress. And here are a couple of choice morsels they left out:

Bachmann proclaimed her intention to be subservient to her husband were she to be elected president: “…the Lord said, ‘Be submissive. Wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands.’”

Bachmann signed a pledge circulated by a radical evangelical asserting that life for African-Americans was better during the era of slavery.

Bachmann gushed her admiration for a serial killer: “Just like John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa, that’s the kind of spirit that I have, too.” Actually, it was murderer and clown painter John Wayne Gacy who was from Waterloo.

Bachmann/Gacy

Bachmann will now be free to pursue an even greater ambition than gumming up the work of congress. Look for her to make more frequent appearances on Fox News and perhaps even score her own program (watch out Greta Van Susteren). She has plenty of evidence of the profitability of being a right-wing, Teabagging, fruitcake, in the works of her comrade, Sarah Palin. It’s a safe bet that she will journey down the same path and participate in the fleecing of the flock and the lining of her pockets. Because that’s what grifters do.