I will be boycotting NBC, MSNBC tomorrow--they just scheduled concurrent competing Trump townhall

[hlthe2b]

at the same time as Biden's long-scheduled ABC townhall. This is just damned wrong and NBC-pandering, IMO. Scheduling him for a town hall, is fine, but at the same exact time--well after the Biden-ABC town hall had been announced? That is absolutely rewarding Trump for his irresponsible backing out of the Presidential Commission agreed-upon debate because they had the audacity to expect him to comply with COVID-related precautions. Shame on NBC for this. They could have at least staggered the event times.

Please watch ABC tomorrow night. Don't give Trump or NBC ratings for this overt attempt to diminish Biden's previously scheduled event.


On edit: it looks like #boycottNBC is already moving in the Twitterverse
https://twitter.com/hashtag/boycottnbc?lang=en

[In_The_Wind]

1. Thank you. I'll join your boycott.

[True Blue American]

3. Comcast!:(

[DownriverDem]

34. Won't watch either

It makes me too nervous. I have already voted Dem all the way here in Michigan. I will follow live blogging at DailyKos.com like I have been doing all along.

[True Blue American]

2. I just heard that

Have mostly switched to CNN any way. Except Wolf Blitzer.

[NJCher]

27. Don Lemon's my fave

eom

[True Blue American]

64. Mine too!

[BKDem]

40. Me too.

Blitzer's treatment of Pelosi yesterday was unforgivable.

But this Comcast shit is beyond the pale. Are they concerned that Trump hasn't gotten enough free airtime?

The poor, poor incumbent, turning the White House into a partisan backdrop. Has anyone in history ever been treated so unfairly.

[Boogiemack]

4. Thanks for that. I hadn't realized the conflicting schedules but planned to skip Trump's

s-show anyway. Now I know what I am going to watch. Biden.

[brooklynite]

5. What you watch does not impact network ratings...

...unless you are a Nielsen family.

[hlthe2b]

6. How do you know I'm not?

BTW, they do track streaming ratings too so your assumptions are way out of date.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-explained-a-guide-what-data-all-means-1245591
TV Long View: A Guide to the Ever-Expanding World of Ratings Data

[NurseJackie]

16. ...

[Budi]

21. Of course they track viewer ratings. Isn't that common knowledge?

Replying to @Morning_Joe
This is a joke...he refuses to debate #Biden so you give him a forum? #BoycottNBC

(Read some of the replies at #BoycottNBC)

[Cha]

100. TY for that, Budi..

[Trumpocalypse]

29. It's not the 70s anymore

There are many more ways to track viewing. NBC is owned by Comcast one of the largest cable providers in the country. They have set top box data that tracks viewing.

[SlogginThroughIt]

72. Well you are wrong and....

You seem to be a contrarian about the strangest things.

[demmiblue]

82. He's quite often wrong, I find. n/t

[Blue_true]

97. I am in a Nielsen household and I won't be watching Trump. nt

[PCIntern]

7. You betcha!

That prick did that to the Republicans during the primary season in 2016. He ducked the debate, it may have been Fox’s, and had that ridiculous program. But it worked....

I think the ratings however, may be interesting. He’s not going to get the viewership he thinks he will. The vast number of folks, even his base, have made up their minds

[durablend]

14. I'm interested in the ratings too

Unless those are 'cooked' which they very well may be.

[NJCher]

32. I think that is what will happen

it will be another embarrassment for him.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. It's partly the media's damned equivalency that protects and enables tRump to be awful. . . . nt

[Mike Nelson]

9. Well...

... this smells exactly like Trump. NBC and Savanah Guthrie need to explain how this is a service to voters... of course, they can't. Boycott both. Ms. Guthrie's career should suffer for the gig.

[samnsara]

10. easy for me.. I never allow trumps evil ugly face to ever be on my tv screen

...I will be watching joe for sure..

[llmart]

17. +1000

I never allow his voice or face on my TV screen and haven't since pre-2016. I value my mental health way too much.

[SergeStorms]

28. Same here.

I'd rather circumcise a dozen rabid wolverines with a rusty butter knife than watch 2 seconds of Trump's ugly, evil face on my TV. That, and my remote control "mute" button has never been used more, when they try to play just his voice after he's said something completely disgusting (and as far as I'm concerned everything he says is completely disgusting). I won't abide his face or voice in my house at all. He's a filthy, disgusting liar and doesn't deserve my attention one bit.

[Budi]

11. K & R #boycottNBC

I can't wait till this month is over.
😒

[OnDoutside]

12. That's pretty outrageous.

[padah513]

13. I've been binge-watching Netflix since Monday morning

I come up for air around 4 to watch Nicole but go right back under until Rachael at 9

[FloridaBlues]

15. Will not watch trump.

[bullwinkle428]

18. Media is bending over backwards to hand the election to this MFer.

[Cozmo]

39. Yeah, just like they did in 2016

[Sherman A1]

59. Precisely

[USALiberal]

96. So you really believe MSNBC wants trump to win? Nt

[CTyankee]

102. Don't worry. The only way I want to see him is being carted off to prison.

I want to watch our next President. If he's on CNN that's what I'm gonna watch.

[gab13by13]

19. I don't see the big deal,

ABC is no different than CNN or CBS or msnbc, none of them are liberal.

So what if more people watch Trump? It's like going to the circus. Also, Trump doesn't do well at town halls because he has to answer a voter's question, he can't deflect from it and spew bs. Frankly, I think Trump will bomb, good ratings for a horrible performance isn't all that bad. Everyone needs to chill.

[Budi]

22. Here:

Replying to @Morning_Joe
This is a joke...he refuses to debate #Biden so you give him a forum?

[Aerator]

24. Morning Joe

If CBS was doing this Joe and Mika would be screaming at the sky.

[gab13by13]

25. Joe is ahead,

Trump needs to do something to turn the race around. Trump has never done well at town halls so how is it going to help Trump for millions of people to watch his ineptitude? Trump's town hall will draw viewers away from Biden's town hall, no doubt, but more people seeing Trump's incompetence doesn't worry me.

Trump also took over the coronavirus press conferences and tried using them as a political event and that didn't work out very well for Trump, he lost favorability. Trump's lies only work when he is talking to his cult at his rallies. Trump can't answer a tough question, can't ignore the question at a town hall. Now if this is a set up and Trump gets softball questions then I agree with the premise of this thread, but I don't expect that will happen.

[Budi]

33. Of course it's a set up & Trump will get softball pre-screened questions

It's a big fat Trump sized campaign ad, polishing up Trump's image from the humiliating ass beating he took from the last time he appeared on stage with Biden.

Everything Trump does is a set up.

Basically Trump threw a tantrum about a virtual debate to avoid another Joe Biden ass kicking, and NBC rewarded that tantrum with his own private show.

[luvtheGWN]

53. People have seen enough already.

The only people who will be tuning in to NBC are those cult members who will vote for him anyway.

As for CNN -- that's the only cable news network in my package and I find that most of them (except Blitzer who should be put to bed) try to be fair, but Dump has been so egregious and so downright criminal that they have no problem pointing that out.

Lemon and Cuomo are my favourites.

[Sunsky]

20. Done

Was never planning on watching Trump's anything anyway.

[The Blue Flower]

23. MSNBC gave drumpf a ton of free air time in 2015

I'm in for the boycott. This is an insult to their viewers.

[Pobeka]

26. While I'm angry and will boycott NBC, I think this will backfire.

more and more people want to hear what Biden wants to say, stealing viewers away from Trump's townhall. Mostly core Trump voter's will watch Trump's townhall to get their hit of the koolaid.

[Bengus81]

30. You mean Trump humpers will watch something on "lame stream media"??

Whatever....Trump will come out looking like a bigger idiot when he claims higher ratings even though they won't be.

[Roy Rolling]

31. Boycott Something Free?

It’s impossible. Just don’t watch. It isn’t a boycott.

If we wanna boycott something, boycott the sponsors of the broadcast. Shame them for associating their corporate name with such a stupid Trump TV “town hall”. Let them know you will not buy their product.

We’ve taken the virtual town hall concept too literally.

[FelineOverlord]

35. #BoycottNBC is the number one hashtag on Twitter

The Resistance is out in force today.

The fake NY Post bombshell is Number Two.

The "reporters" promoting this are getting smashed.

[AllaN01Bear]

36. i dont have cable anyway. s i cant watch it.

[speaknow]

37. Who is going to moferate

the town hall. We should keep in mind the
one's at the top of the all networks got the
big tax break and they want more!

[hlthe2b]

38. Savannah Guthrie

[nolabear]

75. Short straw?

I mean, bless her heart but she’s hardly Lester Holt. Or Al Roker.

[Yeehah]

41. Boycott the mega-corporate news forever

Democracy Now

https://www.democracynow.org/

[bdamomma]

52. Love

Democracy Now.


I will not watch the stupid spreader, I smell desperation.


I will watch Joe.

[Roc2020]

42. It's business though. I'm not watching either but

bottom line NBC and ABC are not charities and unfortunately Trump is still President. He will probably do more harm than good though

[Johnny2X2X]

43. I will watch Joe

But NBC did nothing wrong here, Trump wants to do a townhall, they'll get viewers, they should do a townhall. If anything maybe they can get some people considering Trump to stay on and listen to their analysts pointing out his lies afterwards.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

44. Easy for me... boycotted when they dumped Chris Mathews

[SophieJean]

58. And, good riddance.

Matthews did well spewing idiotic bullshit.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

103. If interesting historical references and parallels to today is bullshit, I agree

[marble falls]

45. I can't even take Colbert's imitation of that voice anymore. I hope something goes wrong with ...

his little show, like some citizen really challenging him and the audience turning on him.

I will be watching Joe.

[SayItLoud]

46. Disgusting $ hungry NBC. Write to them.

It will NOT matter what the content, tRUMP only will care about the ratings, demos. AND people will watch him because freak shows, car accidents and tRUMP attract curiosity.

[seta1950]

47. I will too

I can’t stand to watch that man anyway

[Jon King]

48. Everything is stacked against us....

It is what it is, the electoral college system is stacked against us, the Senate distribution system is stacked against us, the judicial system is stacked against us, the main stream media wants a Trump win because its good for business. All we can do is get up each day and fight on.

I watch these hearings knowing a women who thinks IVF should be banned as it is against her religious beliefs. She wants to end Obamacare which our family is on because we have a small family business and its how we can get a health plan. One of our kids was born using IVF. So basically Barrett says my child should not exist and my family should not have health care.

So excuse me if I hate her with every fiber of my being.

[Fiendish Thingy]

50. Who is moderating on NBC? I'm guessing Chuck Todd...nt

[hlthe2b]

51. Savannah Guthrie

[Wounded Bear]

54. Not watching the Amy circus in the morning...

won't watch Trump in the evening. I'd rather watch monkeys fuck footballs than Trump.

[mnhtnbb]

55. I've already voted so I don't give a $hit what Trump has to say

as if I ever did, knowing that he's a pathological liar.

[UCmeNdc]

56. Shame on NBC, MSNBC for rewarding Trump with a platform. I am burning mad!

[brooklynite]

57. Provide evidence that this is an "overt attempt" to diminish Biden's previously scheduled event

If NBC offered any other programming which drew an audience, would that also be an overt attempt. Should they go dark for an hour?

[hlthe2b]

60. ...

stub your toe on the way to concocting that strawman?

[brooklynite]

69. I didn't assert intent without providing any evidence...

[hlthe2b]

70. You are being ridiculous.

[LanternWaste]

95. Bemusing how you consistently coatrack threads.

[uponit7771]

68. No, just don't give the person who doesn't want to debate a forum of any kind.

[ooky]

61. I'm not waiting until tomorrow night.

On hearing this news I just switched my TV from MSNBC to CNN.

[hunter]

62. I started boycotting all television news and opinion shortly after 9-11-2001

That was a shit storm of repetitive nonsense.

My wife and I quit television entirely more than a decade ago. No cable, no satellite, no broadcast.

We quit Comcast before that. Quitting Comcast was a great feeling. Rachel Maddow should try it.

Our television plays $8.99 a month Netflix and DVDs. That's pretty much all it does. We are able to 'cast other stuff to it, for example we watched the Democratic National Convention, but mostly we don't. We never see television commercials on our television. I sometimes look at clever television commercials people post here as YouTube videos, but mostly I don't.

Television made Trump. Television needs to die.

[LuvNewcastle]

73. Hey, hunter, haven't seen you in a while.

Maybe you've been here and I just haven't seen your posts, but I'm glad you're still around.

I have the same arrangement with my television. I have Hulu, Amazon, and a whole slew of free apps and about 90% of my tv viewing is movies and various series. Every once I'm a while I might watch some live news on one of the big network apps, but that's only when I hear that something big has happened.

That's what I do when I'm at home, anyway, but I've been stuck with regular tv since I've been in the hospital, and damn does it suck. I'm sick to death of the cable news, it sucks so bad. I can't wait to get back home and away from this toxic garbage. Y'all are much, much better off without it, my friend.

[hunter]

74. It seems once you quit the television habit you don't go back.

It becomes intolerable.

Oh, it must be awful being in the hospital in these covid times!

air -

My wife is a health care professional and her workplace has been overwhelmed by covid cases. Some of her coworkers are sick at home, which increases the number of covid patients she has to see. Ordinary health care is being postponed indefinitely.

I'm already an anxious mess, I think television would make it worse.

[LuvNewcastle]

77. Television doesn't make being in here

any easier, that's for sure. I read books and hang out at DU most of the time, but my eyes get tired and then I'll have to watch some tv. It would be so much better if the hospital had Hulu or Netflix for us. Cable tv is just rotten.

They're very cautious about taking on Covid patients at this hospital. They make new patients take a Covid test before they admit them. It's a small specialty hospital, so they kind of do their own thing. If it wasn't for that, I'd be a lot more worried about getting Covid in here. I don't think you have to go overboard to keep from getting Covid; I think if you consistently take basic precautions, you're unlikely to get it. Unfortunately, we have too many people who won't do that. Too many can't even put on a fucking mask. Best of luck to you and bless your wife for putting herself in danger to care for all those sick people. People like her make the world go round!

[Rebl2]

63. I'm not surprised

NBC is doing this. In 2016 the today show’s Matt L. & Savanna G. let trump phone in on the first hour of the show any time he wanted to talk and Scarborough did the same on his show. I thought I heard Savanna is conducting the town hall.

[Roland99]

65. K&R! #BoycottNBC

[ananda]

66. I've been boycotting since Sunday.

I only watched them to keep up with Trump's
health. I can do that online.

[Brainstormy]

67. Watch BASEBALL!

Go Braves!

[themaguffin]

71. I agree. It's disgusting

[hlthe2b]

76. NBC faces blowback for booking a Trump town hall Thursday up against Biden's on ABC.

NBC faces blowback for booking a Trump town hall Thursday up against Biden’s on ABC.

President Trump may not be debating Joseph R. Biden Jr. on the same stage on Thursday night as originally planned. But the two candidates will still face off head-to-head.

NBC said on Wednesday that it would broadcast a televised town hall with Mr. Trump from Miami on Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern — the exact time that Mr. Biden will appear on ABC for his own town-hall-style event in Philadelphia.

The decision to schedule Mr. Trump directly against Mr. Biden generated a swift backlash on Wednesday among top Democrats and media pundits, who said NBC was allowing the president an opportunity to blot out his opponent on the airwaves.

Vivian Schiller, a former news executive at Twitter and National Public Radio who previously worked at NBC, called the timing decision “shameful” in a Twitter post. “The point of a news organization is to serve the public. This is the opposite,” Ms. Schiller wrote.

Mr. Biden’s town hall has been on the books since last week, after Mr. Trump, who had recently contracted the coronavirus, rejected plans to convert the second formal presidential debate into a virtual matchup; the debate was eventually canceled.

--more-- at link:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/10/14/us/trump-vs-biden?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage#nbc-faces-blowback-for-booking-a-trump-town-hall-thursday-up-against-bidens-on-abc

[Demsrule86]

78. I will join you.

[MoonlitKnight]

79. Me too

I watch too damned much TV anyway. Starting now, no NBC shows at all.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

80. I agree with the sentiment. However, I'm pretty sure no one but Neilson families' viewing behavior

Last edited Wed Oct 14, 2020, 05:53 PM - Edit history (1)

is recorded. Maybe people threatening to boycott will concern some sponsors, and maybe some Neilson families will join the boycott, but unless something has changed, "ratings" only come from Neilson.

Anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Edit: I'll correct myself one one point: Neilson families' aren't the only ones whose viewing behavior is "recorded." But, as was my main point, Neilson is still dominates as far as "ratings" go.

Variety has obtained a ranker of how the linear broadcast, cable and pay TV networks performed in 2019. Here are some of the notable highs and lows of 2019.

All based on Neilson data.
https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/network-ratings-top-channels-fox-news-espn-cnn-cbs-nbc-abc-1203440870/

Nevertheless, I'll be happy if boycotting NBC over this gift to Trump has some effect via sponsors hearing of it, as I mentioned, or otherwise.

[hlthe2b]

81. I will correct you. This hasn't been true for more than a decade. Multiplatform means of

collecting ratings occur and are used now--including cable boxes, streaming level data, and others. Nielsen data is just one component.

To suggest Nielsen is the only way or the most meaningful collection of ratings data would be akin to suggesting we should still be using only landlines for polling. Ridiculous. And if you think NBC-COMCAST is not keenly aware of this data, would be quite wrong. Comcast, after all, collects all that cable data.


Here:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-explained-a-guide-what-data-all-means-1245591
TV Long View: A Guide to the Ever-Expanding World of Ratings Data




And add to this the fact that #BoycottNBC has been trending #1 or #2 all day on twitter, I think NBC's execs and COMCAST are fully aware that they've ignited a bonfire. Here are those stats from trends24:

#BoycottNBC

Currently trending at #️3 with 127K tweets⚡️
Started trending about 9 hours ago.
Has trended for more than 9 hours today.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

83. The article you linked is about Neilson & the various ways Neilson families' viewing habits

are recorded. Supporting what I said.

The Nielsen ratings are calculated based on a sample of 40,000 homes and about 100,000 people that's demographically representative of the population as a whole. It's a small fraction of the 120 million or so homes with TV, but also a lot more than, say, a typical political poll that surveys just a couple thousand people.

A few other methods are sprinkled in, but, again, it seems Neilson still rules on providing the "ratings" numbers that predominate.

[hlthe2b]

84. You apparently did not read very thoroughly.

Multiplatform ratings: Things can get a bit fuzzy here, as multiplatform ratings can include streaming and digital viewing via a network's app or third-party service like Hulu, plus on-air replays. The digital audience is growing — some shows get more viewers there than from their on-air showings — but no company in the business willingly offers up definitive streaming or digital viewership. It's only included as part of a whole. (It is possible to subtract, say live-plus-7 ratings from a multiplatform total to get a rough estimate of how many people watch something via nontraditional platforms).

Furthermore, each network has its own way of calculating cross-platform viewing, and timeframes can get murky. HBO touted a massive audience of 44 million viewers for the final season of Game of Thrones, but that included up six weeks of streaming and replays of the season premiere, five weeks of episode two and so on.

Streaming ratings: Are not really a thing. Nielsen does measure the audience for streaming shows, but Netflix and other platforms have disputed the ratings service's numbers as they don't take into account viewing on other devices.

Netflix has reported some viewership figures in recent quarterly earnings reports, but they're not really analogous to Nielsen ratings. Netflix considers a piece of content as having been "viewed" when a member account watches at least 70 percent of one episode of a series or 70 percent of a feature film. It also counts subscribers around the world rather than just the domestic viewers that Nielsen measures. The numbers can be useful in comparing one Netflix show to another, but the service has thus far only publicly released highlights, not a full tally.


*************
Networks combine methodologies to estimate streaming numbers and Comcast (and thus NBC)most certainly looks at cable viewing data as well as streaming through their own apps. Nielsen ignores these but that doesn't mean the networks (and advertisers) do.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

85. I read the entire article & concluded it supports the idea that the major Ratings come from Neilson.

Especially for networks like NBC.

[hlthe2b]

87. ...

conclude whatever you wish. That you conclude COMCAST-owned NBC ignores their own data is laughable. Nielsen is an important component, but not the only component of today's ratings.

But, I still have pollster friends arguing that their methods involving >75% land phones are still valid and that "everyone still does it." The rest of us know better.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

89. ...

Thank you for that permission, oh mightily one. Based on the linked article, your argument is no more valid than mine. And since your tone is unnecessarily hostile, I'm ignoring you from now on.

This 2019 article from Variety, a major industry source, indicates just how much Neilson still dominates the ratings game.

[hlthe2b]

90. ...

Enjoy your evening.

[Tarc]

86. I'm all for it

This is a "give a man enough rope and he'll hang himself" thing.

He's going to come across as a fool

[sarcasmo]

88. Here is the NBC programming phone number. 212-664-4444.

[Hortensis]

91. Just surprised NBC/MSNBC's work to elect Trump

and Republicans across the nation in 2016 didn’t already cause major boycottIng by the kind of people who come to this forum.

After all, virtually every mention of Hillary on MSNBC’s daytime programs for two years was negative? Horrible Hillary, despicable woman, untrustworthy, corrupt — in spite of a quarter century of corrupt RW nvestigations proving the opposite. It was actually a rule for appearing on MSNBC daytime programs, and CNN. If someone had to say something positive (rare), they had to follow, and preferably precede with something negative, if they wanted to be invited back.

This election they want rid of Trump while keeping business friendly conservatives in charge of governments at all level across the nation. They are playing hell with that, of course, against a giant tsunami of consequences for what they brought on themselves.

Hope all enjoy this event’s boycott and MSNBC’s coverage the next day. Just with eyes open. This is a very different situation this time, but the same people are in charge and the battle for power is enormous. And maybe with some sympathy and admiration for the evil witch who battled so heroically for years, and for all those who so don’t deserve what’s happening.

[James4Biden]

92. Good to boycott, they are terrible.

[Totally Tunsie]

93. So, watch Biden's TH so that he gets the ratings, and

DVR Chump's to watch later.

Not much difference, really, than if they were broadcast at two different times. It'll still take 2 hours to watch both (assuming they're an hour each).

Don't most people with TV/Cable have the ability these days to DVR? I'm not sure I see much of a difference watching it as I suggested. You can even DVR both to have them available to re-watch if so desired.

[Liberal In Texas]

94. My guess is that the suits at NBC probably caved to Deadbeat Donnie's demand that it be opposite of

VP Joe Biden's.

I think Donnie wants this so they're be a ratings head-to-head figuring he'll either win it or be tied. Then when he's buried election night he can claim fraud and point to the NBC ratings as evidence.

And a lot of people might watch him, people do like to see train wrecks, but that doesn't mean they'd vote for him.

[tavernier]

98. I have no problem switching to CNN,

especially if I help in getting rid of Chuckie. I heard this political ploy was his idea.

[bdamomma]

99. Is NBC

that desperate for ratings. I will be watching Joe.

Fuck Trump.

[Cha]

101. Easy for me.. I boycotted all that SHIT in Nov 2002.