{"id":11257,"date":"2014-01-13T18:32:35","date_gmt":"2014-01-14T02:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=11257"},"modified":"2014-01-13T18:32:35","modified_gmt":"2014-01-14T02:32:35","slug":"christies-bridge-gate-scandal-boosts-rachel-maddow-to-ratings-victory-over-fox-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=11257","title":{"rendered":"Christie’s Bridge-Gate Scandal Boosts Rachel Maddow To Ratings Victory Over Fox News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rachel<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

The dominance of Fox News in the Nielsen ratings for cable networks has not been seriously challenged for most of the past several years. There have been periods that looked promising for the competition, particularly the months between the Democratic National Convention and the presidential election in 2012. During that time MSNBC was beating Fox on a regular basis as President Obama was doing the same to Mitt Romney. That trend was still in effect as late as January of 2013 when Fox reported steep declines in the key 25-54 demographic, while MSNBC shot upward<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Fox-MSNBC<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

However, that state of affairs did not hold as the nation settled into a new year with the excitement of electioneering behind them. There would be little drama in the ratings race for the next few months. Eventually, Fox would enjoy a rebound<\/a> as they ramped up their coverage of various scandals that they had been carefully crafting with their Republican allies. But even then they were suffering losses of the younger viewers that advertisers favor.<\/p>\n

Last week, however, saw an unexpected bounce<\/a> for MSNBC, and particularly Rachel Maddow. Her ratings in the demo thrust her into the number one spot for the whole week, ahead of Fox’s newly minted prime time star Megyn Kelly. Chris Matthews also benefited by tying the week with Greta Van Susteren, and Lawrence O’Donnell scored clean victories over Sean Hannity on a couple of days. This turnaround was surprising during a post-holiday lull, but there is a possible reason for it.<\/p>\n

Maddow and her colleagues may have Chris Christie to thank for their ratings success. Their rising fortunes began at the same time that Maddow broke the story of the George Washington Bridge tantrum thrown by the Christie camp as political payback to unsupportive Democrats.<\/p>\n

\n

From News Corpse
\n
\nAvailable at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Let’s face it…Scandals have the same power to drive ratings in political news as they do in soap operas. The last ratings spike<\/a> that Maddow enjoyed was when a video of Romney appeared showing him casting aside 47% of the American electorate as lazy moochers. And, as mentioned above, Fox exploited their own scandal sheet last may to recover from a long slump.<\/p>\n

What this tells us is that, in order for MSNBC to consistently rise above Fox, they need to have as effective a scandal factory as Fox has. That’s a tall order because Fox has big head start in manufacturing fake scandals and the phony outrage that accompanies them. And for a network like MSNBC that has yet to exhibit much of an aptitude for inventing controversies that don’t exist in reality, they have some catching up to do.<\/p>\n

Of course, Republicans have been more than generous in producing scandals for themselves, as the Christie affair so clearly demonstrates. The problem is that the so-called liberal media has not been especially good at taking advantage of the opportunities that were laid in their lap. But if MSNBC or CNN want to seriously challenge Fox’s ratings dominance, they had better show some improvement in that area in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The dominance of Fox News in the Nielsen ratings for cable networks has not been seriously challenged for most of the past several years. There have been periods that looked promising for the competition, particularly the months between the Democratic National Convention and the presidential election in 2012. During that time MSNBC was beating Fox […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Christie's Bridge-Gate Scandal Boosts Rachel Maddow To Ratings Victory Over Fox News","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[33,22,120],"class_list":["post-11257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-ratings","tag-fox-news","tag-msnbc","tag-rachel-maddow"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-3x1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-2Vz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11496,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=11496","url_meta":{"origin":11257,"position":0},"title":"Rachel Maddow Beats Fox News – Again","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/10\/2014","format":false,"excerpt":"For the second time this year, Rachel Maddow pulled off a weekly ratings win against Fox News in the critical 25-54 demographic that advertisers prefer. Available now on Amazon: Fox Nation vs. Reality. Get it today. MSNBC has been enjoying a bit of boost with daily breaking coverage of Chris\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ratings"","block_context":{"text":"Ratings","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-3x1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":40738,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=40738","url_meta":{"origin":11257,"position":1},"title":"Rachel Maddow Stomps Sean Hannity with 4th Straight Monthly Win vs State TV (aka Fox News)","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/2\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple of years ago Fox News was regarded as an invincible monolith on cable news that no other network could challenge. It was a fallacy created by their catering to a hard-core right-wing constituency that behaved like mesmerized cult worshipers, but it had the effect of corralling the whole\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, Fox News","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-hannity-sad-foxnews.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-hannity-sad-foxnews.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-hannity-sad-foxnews.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41011,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=41011","url_meta":{"origin":11257,"position":2},"title":"Poor Fox News is Pathetically Bragging About a Few Days of Beating MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/29\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Fox News was once the dominant news network on cable TV. It was so far ahead of its competition that it seemed unthinkable that it could be challenged. That's mainly because they corralled all of the Deplorable right-wingers into one barnyard pen, while the rest of the television news was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fox News, Rachel Maddow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-sad-maddow.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-sad-maddow.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/foxnews-sad-maddow.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41055,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=41055","url_meta":{"origin":11257,"position":3},"title":"Rachel Maddow is the #1 Cable News Program for First Quarter of 2019 Despite Trump’s Fox News Hype","author":"Mark NC","date":"4\/1\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Rachel Maddow Show has achieved yet another milestone in her program's ratings surge. She has been outperforming her competition since the midterm election last November. That includes staggering routs of Fox News and its primary Trump-fluffer, Sean Hannity. In a press release from MSNBC, Maddow is shown to have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rachel Maddow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-cheers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-cheers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-cheers.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38995,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=38995","url_meta":{"origin":11257,"position":4},"title":"Rachel Maddow is Leading MSNBC to Record Ratings, the Only Cable News Net to Gain Viewers","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/28\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"While Donald Trump is dragging his presidency down to the depths of the abyss, he might deserve some credit for lifting MSNBC up to the heights of ratings Valhalla. For the month of August MSNBC achieved a significant milestone, becoming the the second-most-watched network across all of basic cable. And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rachel Maddow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-cheers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-cheers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-cheers.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36309,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=36309","url_meta":{"origin":11257,"position":5},"title":"Rachel Maddow Crushes Trump-Fluffer Sean Hannity in November Ratings War With Fox News","author":"Mark NC","date":"11\/29\/2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Two months ago Fox News moved Sean Hannity's program to 9:00 pm. It was the latest schedule change resulting from the terminations of Fox anchors (Bill O'Reilly, Eric Bolling) accused of sexual harassment and abuse. For Hannity it was a promotion to a more desirable time slot with a potentially\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rachel Maddow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-hannity-sad.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-hannity-sad.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/maddow-hannity-sad.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11257"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11261,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11257\/revisions\/11261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}