Fox News

[erpowers]

Why do so many people call FOX a ratings powerhouse? FOX is not a rating powershouse. Not only does the flagship show the Bill O' Reilly only get 2 million viewers, but some of the liberal show shows on MSNBC (when there are liberal shows) get only 500,000 less fewers than Bill O' Reilly. For instance, when Phil Donohue had a show on MSNBC after only about 6 months on the channel he has about 1.5 million viewers. Other liberals who have been on other cable networks have gotten the same high ratings before having their shows pulled off the air. In addition, some political show on other channels, like NOW with Bill Moyers, get more viewers with less publicity.

[cheezus]

1. it doesn't matter if its true so long as people think it is

and you make them think it is by saying it over and over

[knowbody0]

2. a lie repeated often enough becomes a fact

repeat after me:


all is well

[TR Fan]

3. The week Donohue's show was pulled

from MSNBC, it had less than 300000 viewers. The average number of viewers also trailed O'Reily by margins of 5 to 1:

MSNBC Fires Phil Donahue
26 February 2003 (StudioBriefing)
After failing to lift MSNBC's continually sagging ratings, Phil Donahue was abruptly fired Tuesday. In a statement, MSNBC President Erik Sorenson said: "We're proud of the program and we're disappointed that the show was not able to attract the viewership we had hoped for and expected." During the past month, Donahue, positioned as a counter-balancing talk-show liberal, has been averaging 446,000 per show, while his chief rival, Fox's Bill O'Reilly, has drawn 2.7 million viewers. CNN's Connie Chung, whose news/talk program also airs opposite Donahue's and O'Reilly's, has drawn 985,000 viewers.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0161202/news

[ComerPerro]

4. Actually, what amazes me even more

Is that OReilly's insists that he has the highest rated cable news show, and that Faux news is the the highest rated cable news network. But at the same time, he says that the media is dominated by left wing elitists, and calls other organizations (ones that don't have as many viewers as Faux, apparently) the mainstream media.

:wtf:

A person cannot honestly hold both beliefs at the same time.

[AllegroRondo]

5. If the media is dominated by liberal networks

why do the Repubs fight against bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, which forces networks to allow equal time for opposing viewpoints?

[ComerPerro]

6. interesting point.

Never thought of that angle.

[tom_paine]

10. Sure they can...if they are of a Totalitarian State of Mind

Orwell called it "doublethink" and it's as easy as pie for the Bushevik Monsters.

[ComerPerro]

11. That's true.

Party members got so good at doublethink that it was no longer a conscious act.

[KharmaTrain]

7. The Cable News Bubble

Yep, 2,000,000 viewers is a small number when you consider there are 100,000,000 people probably viewing during prime time, but this spreads over a lot of channels and choices. ESPN constantly blows away Faux or any other cable news channel, but that's not how this game is played.

Unlike networks that rely on local stations and their local ratings to come up with a national aggregate, cable uses their own numbers that are national in nature...geared toward national advertisers (many also buy local cable, too). The cable networks have segregated themselves into niches so they can make lots of money off target demographics.

When you see these numbers, all you generally see are just the Faux, CNNservative, MSGOP & $NBC numbers...occasionally some throw in The Daily Show (which draws just less than O'Reilly right now), but it's all in its own universe. And this is not a bad thing since not all homes have cable and not all cable systems offer the same channels.

Networks like NBC, CBS, Fox, UPN, WB all rely on a different system and since they reach a far greater audience their numbers still remain larger. Public stations get the short-shrift as they aren't rated in many markets, since few need or use the ratings services.

As always, you have to really look at the numbers to see them. Many like to throw around ratings or stats or polls but forget the context of which they're being used or how they were set up.

Bottom line: Faux News is popular and it remains the top rated cable news channel with a very loyal audience...things the advertising agencies look at and then write checks to Rupert.

[AllegroRondo]

9. SpongeBob gets higher ratings than O'Reilly

or anything on Fox News, for that matter.

The highest rated cable shows are Pro Wrestling, followed by Nickelodeon's entire Saturday morning lineup.

[Crankie Avalon]

8. I guess FOX is the highest rated CABLE news network...

...and that makes some people think it must have high ratings, but being the most watched cable news programming isn't saying all that much. None of these cable outlets seem to reach that many people. I would imagine the network newscasts are the ones regular people tune in. The cable stuff is more for the "junkies."

[TheIntruder240]

12. Not really. Check the ratings at mediabistro/tvnewser

I do statistics for an MSNBC affiliate. We wish we had some of their ratings.

[applegrove]

13. It is right behind the SEX CHANNEL on Canadian Digital TV!!

[Mr_Spock]

14. It's Faux "news" BTW

I wonder why they are always lying - OOOPS! I answered my own question!