Fox News in Ratings Free Fall

[SF Bay Area Dem]

Fox News in Ratings Free Fall


Here's something you won't hear on Fox News -- ratings for the cable news channel have been plummeting since before the November election.

According to TV Newser, the number of people watching Fox during prime time in the 25 to 54 age bracket dropped in April for the sixth straight month.

TV Newser cited a CNN press release which gave these totals for Fox's primetime audience in the 25 to 54 age bracket: Oct. 04: 1,074,000; Nov. 04: 891,000; Dec. 04: 568,000; Jan. 05: 564,000; Feb. 05: 520,000; March 05: 498,000; April 05: 445,000. That amounts to a decline of 58 percent, with no sign of leveling off. What the press release didn't say is that we can add 629,000 people to those who don't watch Fox.

Fox's plunging ratings should be a warning to those cable stations trying to copy the news channel's conservative Republican slant. People are tired of it. Try something different, like a progressive television show, for a change.


http://www.newshounds.us/2005/05/18/fox_news_in_ratings_free_fall.php#more

[eleny]

1. this is kind of nice

fox ratings falling and walmart also having problems. pinch me because i must be dreaming.

[Melodybe]

3. Ha Ha Ha things like this make me think we can save this thing before

we are all turned into chemical dust.

[ray of light]

134. Of course we can save things but we need a plan and a committment

to become activists. First, some people are returning to CNN but lets pretend they are returning to be watch dogs. Therefore, anytime CNN tells another whopper, they need to post and blogswarm to all websites and create a ground swell of activist to call, write, and protest any lies or stories CNN is hiding.

Don't return just to return. MAKE it a action to bring back the media.

Join the democracy cell project and find out other ideas from experienced activists. And at 9 pm every night there is a live chat discussion about current events and activist suggestions by experienced staff. Give it a try. D.U. and Democracy Cell Project together CAN make a difference and bring back our country's democracy. We all have to be a team.

http://www.democracycellproject.net

[getmeouttahere]

84. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch! Let's keep....

the pressure on...boycott Walmart! boycott Fox sponsors! The only thing these people understand is money!

www.buyblue.org

[CrispyQ]

127. I hope their greed will wake them up to the majority

liberal voice.

I not only boycott, I write letters to the corporate office & local stores to let them know why I no longer shop there & if I have receipts from their competitors, I send copies of those too.

Recently, with Home Depot, I included copies of receipts for two major appliance purchases that I made at their competitors with my letter. I got a call from the local manager, who was stunned that I would boycott HD because they give to republicans. ~Gasp! Imagine that!

He told me that he doesn't have any control over where corporate decides to send their funds. I told him that was ok, because enough of my friends & I are boycotting HD that corporate will definitely notice soon, if they haven't already!

You are right that money is the only thing these guys understand.

[NuttyFluffers]

132. i'd be glad if we can scare co. from throwing their money around again

just get the bastards, and their money, outta my politics. no one gets to buy more democracy than anyone else!

i salute your courage, may you start a trend. i'll try to emulate you.
:patriot:

[getmeouttahere]

144. CrispyQGirl, you are right on the money!

We need to encourage this type of behavior among our like-minded friends. I believe it's the only power we have left. Keep up the grea work!

[NJCher]

147. I do that, too!

I save receipts when I buy from their competitors and send them to them. "Wow, cost you $1000 in sales 'cuz you donated to 'anti-democracy forces'." I say it like that so they can think about how they're buying political influence and usurping the will of the citizenry.

That's funny about the call you got from the local HD manager. Love it.


Cher

[Mojambo]

2. I'm giggling uncontrollably here n/t

[Greybnk48]

4. Does this mean there's hope? n/t

[Griffy]

113. you BET theres hope.. media reform is everywhere!

after being at the media reform conference I can tell you this is a revolution, and good people are working in every state to get the word out! So BE the MEDIA people.. keep talking to people, even strangers if you can.. post truth, make flyers.. be creative, make it your goal to get so facts to people! Tell them the media isnt telling them the truth, most people suspect somethings up!


Bush is going DOWN... sooner or later!

[AuntiBush]

137. Something I learned from an elder family member:

She remembered McCathyism and said this, w/regards to media-outage, propoganda-machines and boycotting corporations:

They only understand 1 thing: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

AND

When Universities, Colleges and the Journalists (not TV Talking Heads) begin to revolt, somethings up.

[ray of light]

151. So let's make money talk!

[ClintonTyree]

120. Maybe....

when every other cable news network has tried to outfox FOX lately, I'm not sure this is cause for celebration. The entire media has shifted to the right (except for a few anchors), but I guess people are finally discovering that they don't want to be THAT far right.

Murdoch is rumored to be moving closer to the left because he's not controlling that audience and their money. However, I cannot think of ANY circumstance that would attract me to ANY Murdoch owned media outlet. With the possible exception of him selling his empire or being the one that nails bush and his cabal to the wall for their crimes. I guess I MIGHT consider watching a Murdoch owned outlet then, I MIGHT! ;)

[LeahD]

5. Yahoo! There is justice in this world. n/t

[Clark2008]

43. It probably means that people are tired of a shoddy product...

in the case of both Walmart and Faux.

Think about it - if you're constantly given a product that has a horrible shelf life - Walmart clothes, for example, fall apart within a year or Faux News tells you the economy is wonderful while you're looking for work or getting paid half of your former income - aren't you going to, at some time, decided the product is lousy? Aren't you going to stop consuming products from that company?

Well, 'tis the case of Walmart and Faux. The personal pocketbook is making its decision.

[nolabels]

109. I hate purchasing things more times than I should have to

As a mechanic most of the hand tools I have are guaranteed (and mostly do) last forever. Many things that last often cost a lot, but by the time you figure up your time and money on multiple replacements for something that should have lasted longer, the well produced items only make sense.

P.S. Mostly don't watch much TV, but skipping out on even more sounds like a good idea

[stevietheman]

6. It's probably because...

the numbers of the well-off in this country are falling too... as the country sinks further into an economic hole. The last thing the oppressed and financially falling want to listen to is conservative arrogance.

[eleny]

12. Yeah, it's hard to relate to O'Reilly

Franken was pointing this out just today. How can people relate to B.O. when he says he doesn't care if he has to spend an additional grand a month on health insurance. The average worker who buys a "Factor" hat ought to be stomping on it right about now.

[Nothing Without Hope]

32. Until this moment I hadn't connected with his initials meaning BODY ODOR

Thanks for that.

And I LOVE that Faux has been falling. People know they are lying and they are tired of the KoolAid, At last.

Even in movies and TV cartoons this Administration is dericed and detested:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1792922
Thread title: “Funny but important - Ridicule/criticism of Bush Admin in MOVIES and TV”

[radar]

7. What...???

"Try something different, like a progressive television show, for a change."

Tell the truth? Report the facts a la Sgt. Joe "Just the facts..." Friday?

What a novel idea! Hehe

[jojo54]

8. Bwwaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

:rofl: :woohoo: :spank: :evilgrin: :bounce:

[bling bling]

9. They aren't news networks, they're opinion networks. FON & CON.

They only appeal to audiences who happen to share the opinion of the particular pundit in front of the camera.

I personally am going on over 6 months without the opinion networks. My only regret is that I didn't turn them off about 5 years ago.

[9119495]

64. Right there with you bling.

I turned them off after the election and I'm so much better off. I get my news from DU, THe Daily Show, Other internet sources, and I guess I do catch Olberman on occasion.

What I find interesting is at the ratings peak, only 1 million people were watching Fox and it was in the lead. Take heart people, this means very few Americans are watching ANY of the bullshit channels. So for all the spinning Fox does, what is the real impact? Apparently less than .5% of all Americans give a shit about Fox anyway--and we already know how they'll vote.

[Arugula Latte]

89. I've been cable "news" ie propaganda free since Oct. '04

I couldn't take the stress leading up to the election of these bozos lying and spinning and distorting and then lying again.

It's good for the old blood pressure to just say No. I'm with you -- DU is my main news source, with our local paper as a back-up.

[liberal4eva]

139. and....

........don't forget real time with bill maher!! he is most excellent!

[pacalo]

108. Same here.

I don't watch any news networks or programs except Olberman & the Daily Show.

The numbers are reflecting the disgust of this country since the "election": "Other cable stations' ratings were also down since the election..."

That, along with Prezinet Deer-in-the-Headlights' low approval ratings since the election, speaks loudly about that so-called election staged in November.

[Clark2008]

95. Shouldn't that be FNN and COX?

:evilgrin:

[evlbstrd]

10. The pendulum swings

as it always has.
People aren't completely stupid. Yet.

[coloradodem2005]

11. May they both go down in flames.

[lady lib]

13. First good news all day.

Thanks a bunch, I really needed that.

[AP]

14. Americans don't like Fox or Bush. Solution: more religion on TV!!!

I wonder what the ratings will be like for ABC's show about the Resurection.

[jmcon007]

15. That explains Rupert Murdoch getting

a bunch of his media honchos together for an emergency meeting several weeks ago. One thing they discussed was Internet blogs and where they might fit in.....something along those lines.
I figured they were losing market share big time.
Let's all cry crocodile tears.

[Daphne08]

35. Even in the blogosphere they will be attracting

ONLY their hard right base.

[annabanana]

54. "fit in"? or shut down? . . . . . .n/t

[mom cat]

118. Boo hoo, splat splat

:bounce: :bounce: :toast: :toast: :smoke: :smoke::applause: :nopity: :applause: :smoke::smoke::toast::toast::bounce::bounce:

[seg4527]

16. i've noticed somethign different about fox lately - somethign suckier

they changed their graphics, and it seemed to me that it was some kind of an attempt to woo people back.

some of the things i've seen on it lately have just seemed corny. i know they are always anti-democrat, but it just seemed so overwhelming lately, if it could have been any more overwhelming. the headline on the bottom of the screen today at one point was "are democrats hell-bent on stopping everyting the gop wants to do?" or something like that.

i won't be happy until their numbers are zero for every bracket, though. we are making a lot of progress, more than i even hoped for, though.

but...a question we have to ask is where are the viewers going to? If the primetime viewers are going to cnn, well, that's nearly as bad. if they are going to msnbc, it's a little better. they see chris matthews, who has his moments, although they are few and far between, and they see KO, which is great.

Are they watching American Idol?

or, even better, are they logging on to DU? ;)

[bbgrunt]

17. that's a good point

As much as I'd like FOX to die, I have to question the effect. I seem to recall a slide in AAR ratings also. I think they explained it as having something to do with expected post-election lag in interest. Now , if all MSM are lagging, the question is: What is the lag of FOX relative to other media?

And, of course, if they are all falling at the same velocity, does that mean that more people are turning to the internet or just turning off?

[Midnight Rambler]

23. The fact that it's a steady decline seems to suggest otherwise

If it was just a post-election slide, the ratings probably would ahve stopped slipping at some point, but it looks like they've just been going further and further down. We could probably get a better picture of what things are really like down there if we had some pre-election season numbers.

[getmeouttahere]

85. As long as Fox is losing money, does it matter?

that's the key, IMO. Same with Walmart. WM is the largest company in the world now, but also the worst on many levels. Pluse they back BushCo. All we can do is take them down, one at a time.

[FrenchieCat]

135. But, but, but....

Didn't Faux participate in the 24/7 Popepapalooza extravaganda? Seem like that it should have gotten them some ratings....

maybe the "Extreme Religious Wrong" got turned off seeing so many Catholics gathered all in one place (maybe they got jealous).....yo think?

and what about "runaway bride"?....Shouldn' that have helped the rating sweeps?

Jeeze...what are the "News" coming to? When one can't even get good ratings for Gems like those!

[FreedomAngel82]

31. And the million dollar question

who will go out and vote in 2006? And democratic? If nobody does then what good do these numbers do?

[BR_Parkway]

37. More important is who will count those votes

[BR_Parkway]

38. More important is who will count those votes

Computers have no moral values, they just do what they're told

[loudsue]

112. Exactamundo! And until people get THAT fact through their

heads, we're just going to see a filibuster-proof congress after the 2006 elections...the republicans are just going to keep stealing the country, one seat at a time, one judge at a time.

After all, it was a right-wing corporate-friendly JUDGE that ruled the vote machine companies didn't have to let anyone check out their software programming, because it was PROPRIETARY BUSINESS SECRETS! Now, we're just getting more and more judges who will rule against our rights in favor of corporations stealing our votes.

People need to finally get it through their heads: Republican owned and operated corporations just CANNOT be trusted to count our votes with secret vote-counting software. Duh!!!!

:kick::kick::kick:

[NewJeffCT]

50. Didn't the Simpsons do something similar once?

The crawl on the bottom of the screen for Fox News, as shown on the Simpsons, was something "Do Democrats cause cancer?" and things like that...

[CrispyQ]

146. I've taken to emailing my Dem friends threads from DU.

These are friends who were anxiously awaiting F-911 last year, some even worked down at the local Dem headquarters. This year, however, they weren't even aware of the bankruptcy bill or real id bill before I sent them links to threads on this site.

Also this past week there was that great thread about what's fake with this administration. There were some good laughs in that thread!

[Up2Late]

18. Good stuff!

I'd love to see how much CNN/HLN's ratings have fallen Summer 2001 when they "Changed Everything" as their commercials said.

[Jamison]

19. Great news!

I guess people are finally getting tired of biased "news."

[Gloria]

20. But what's going on in the talk radio world???

I know O'Reilly isn't doing all that well but...they have so many others on so many stations in so many markets.....

[Chomskyite]

29. Nobody knows but the station managers

. . . and possibly the advertisers. The Arbitron ratings for stations and for individual shows on the radio seem to be so secret that you can only get them locally if you pay a huge fee for their service.

But meanwhile the local Right-wing yokels on my AM stations here only have two or three extremely repetitious sponsors at the most. And a lot of in-house ads, and a lot of public service announcements. When I turn on Air America, I hear ads from Starbucks and Walmart and god knows what all.

[PassingFair]

58. The one abduring fathers to stick around and teach

their children to "obey" always makes my stomach sour.
The public service announcements on our local lib. station (Yup, it runs on a Clear Channel(!) station) are really schizo!

[KurtNYC]

69. Try here

These list averages for local radio stations.

http://www.arbitron.com/home/content.stm

Fees for individual programs may be high because Arbitron would have to collect that specific data.

Edit: found better stuff...

For a fee, Arbitron, the subscribers-only ratings service (known as The Book) will make its local and regional radio ratings reflect the numbers a station wants to see; that is: numbers it can sell. Customizing survey areas, dayshares, demographics and time periods to support stations' ad-selling strategies, Arbitron serves up the numbers in any manner of configurations to help sales departments demonstrate the value of their audiences to advertisers.

Frinstance: if the "Lush Rimjob Show" can be heard in three cities, but is number one in just one , and only among 18-35 year-old married male Chinese Volvo drivers who drink coffee and own one or more labrador retrievers, Arbitron will provide customized results conveniently sans the embarrassing survey areas or more inclusive demographics and make Lush Numero Uno even though many other stations are kicking his ample ass in overall ratings in the three city coverage area.
...
Air America has shown that with entertaining and substantive formats and hosts it can succeed. Much will be riding on whether it can entice station managers to try the new daring format and attract the hidden audience that Arbitron ignores.

More at: http://blatherwatch.blogs.com/talk_radio/arbitron_ratings_/

[ooglymoogly]

71. who are the extremely repetitious advertisers

we need to boycott them....if walmart is advertising on air america it means they have realized their past idiocy and are trying to cope with the boycotts against them, which are working.

[tsuki]

47. I've done my part on O'Lielly. I now have more than half a dozen

people that cannot eat Falafels because of the mental picture.

[NewJeffCT]

52. Clear Channel lost $4 billion last year

So, maybe putting on all these low rated RW hate mongers is finally starting to take it's toll?

[autorank]

21. SF Bay Area Dem, you made my early AM. I can now sleep!

Wow, these numbers suck. Any business with this type of rapid decline, is in huge trouble. What about all those face lifts they have to pay for, all the special effects to make the hosts appear human. Declining revenues will show a new, more natural Fox.

It just makes me want to :rofl:

Now, here is the other show. What happens when somebody gets really fed up with their bull shit (somebody in power or "the know") and does an expose on their crappy financials. Oh yeah, plunging revenue, plunging stock prices.

Bye bye, Rupert. Bye, bye Lachlan (his heir, haha).

And to think, this guy is an American citizen.

[Montauk6]

22. Hope we're not popping the cork of a flat champagne bottle

While it's poetic justice that the Foxholes are in a slump, is it any solace when the other news networks have long since jumped on the right-wing bandwagon? I mean, in the big corporate picture, is there currently much difference between Fox and, say, CNN, CNBC or the rest of the MSM? (Forgive my Naderish cynicism)

[earth mom]

24. This is the BEST news I've heard all year!

That's gotta hurt-right in the pocketbook-since less viewers means less $$$ from advertising! :bounce:

[NMDemDist2]

25. that's the best news I've had all week, thanks! n/t

[madrchsod]

26. did anyone notice something in these figures

no one watches these guys. they are unimportant- if less than a half a million watchers control the news agenda in this country we certainly are not worthy of a democracy.

[RobertSeattle]

27. Need more Bimbos!!!!

I'll predict Fox's Blonde Newscaster will start looking a little "perkier" soon...

Fair and Balance means the proper proportion of Blondes and Brunettes to Murdoch.

[Wright Patman]

55. They'll need to at least go topless

for me to even consider getting cable, which I haven't had in 10 years.

It is amazing how much different the world appears when you don't watch TV. I haven't watched anything but the occasional football games involving my alma mater in Austin since about 1998.

[getmeouttahere]

86. Bravo, Wright Patman, I applaud you....

I myself watch only my DVD's now

[stevietheman]

110. I still watch TV but...

I rarely watch the news any more. Stopping the news viewing has made a huge deal of difference in my outlook. Avoiding the "murder, weather and sports" of the local news and the "corporate viewpoint on irrelevant issues" of the national news has made me a much happier person.

[goclark]

114. We need to renew our efforts to get people to not watch

What we did at DU to inform folks about FOX etc. must have made a dent - glorious!

Let's renew our effort to inform the world about this slime of a network.

I love it that they are sinking.

Is it too far of a stretch to believe that it is yet another indication that the chimp does not have a MANDATE that wants to hear lies about BUSHCO all day?

[getmeouttahere]

119. I'll bet it does make you happier, I know it makes me....

happier. I think one of the biggest reasons I don't watch TV anymore is there are too many commercials and especially drug commercials. You NEVER saw drug commercials on TV when I was a kid. And I'm still convinced that our government doesn't want to find a cure for cancer or slow our obesity problem, because that would be a hit to the drug companies, they wouldn't be able to profit from our illnesses as much anymore.

But when it comes right down to it, 90% of what's on TV nowadays is crap and I've got better things to do with my time. Like blogging with you good people!

[Zhade]

28. 58% IN SIX MONTHS??? Do you know how HUGE that is?

I've been in broadcasting for a decade now (started at age 19), and this is an ENORMOUS drop. Stunning.

My ultimate boss R.M. may not like it, but I'm fucking LOVING it!

[FreedomAngel82]

30. Interesting

Does anybody have Jon Stewart's raitings? Hm and here I thought there was a mandate.

[Nothing Without Hope]

33. Keith Olbermann has been doing rather well too - and he's another

truth-teller compared to the Faux propaganda mouthpieces. In his May 16 blog entry, the one where he called for the resignation of Scott McClellan, he referred to Fox this way:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7873141/#050516b
...the Fox News Channel (which, only today, I finally recognized — it’s the newscast perpetually running on the giant video screens in the movie "1984")...

[Coexist]

44. He's beating Grace!! Yes!

but how is Cooper beating him????

[Nothing Without Hope]

63. Cooper is beating him only from people not knowing what they're missing

IMO. There is NO comparison.

[ElectroPrincess]

34. You've made my morning SF Bay Area Dem, Thanks!

I've been waiting for folks to burn -out on FOX which mainly spews hatred against anyone politically left of center.

I won't celebrate but such news is refreshing and hopeful for the welfare of our country, and perhaps the world. :-)

[Swamp Rat]

36. YAAY!!! The bell tolls for Murdoch's crappy TV tabloid!

[Spiffarino]

148. You are the Emperor of Photoshop

And I bow in your general direction.

Kudos, Swamp Rat.

Edit: spellnig

[dbt]

39. I'm with Zhade (post 28 above) about the numbers.

Any time any media entity loses half its audience, it's in some seriously deep shit. The first thing that happens is that advertisers (customers) start wanting to know why they're still having to pay spot rates that were based on audience figures that are now half as big as when the contracts were signed. Fochs is going to have to make some serious concessions on its spot rates or its biggest advertisers will walk--and they will not be scared by any threats of legal action.

Then, on the programming side, the Morale Maelstrom begins to spin. Flop sweat breaks out, which is especially deadly after such an extended period of cockiness. Middle-level programmers (aided by their CONsultants) will begin to desperately proclaim "We've got to get back to the basics. We've strayed away from our target audience!" What this will boil down to is moving MORE to the right, becoming MORE shrill and strident (watch for it if you have the stomach). The Panic will feed on itself, pushed along by the fact that the more Fochs moves to the right, the more its numbers will fall. I have seen this at any number of radio stations since 1971; the principle will hold true for TV. The product has become FLAWED, in that a good portion of consumers have decided they no longer want to buy it. They should talk to the Automobile Industry about how long it takes to turn this situation around.

The TV "news" networks, by their own shameless whoring for bu$h and their obsession with Michael Jackson/Dead Popes/Terry Schiavo/Runaway Brides ad nauseum, are driving their audiences to the Internet in search of REAL NEWS. They've worked long and hard to get good seats on RMS Titanic. Full speed ahead and damn the icebergs, I says!

:popcorn:

[stevedeshazer]

61. Great anaysis, thanks n/t

[wryter2000]

88. Thanks so much!

Great analysis. To quote Captian Pickard, "make it so." :applause:

[CottonBear]

100. Captain Picard.

:) "We draw the line here."

[wryter2000]

131. Me and my awful spelling

D-OH!

:spank: :bounce:

[katinmn]

40. advertisers must already be dropping out, too.

why prop up programming with such puny viewership?

[tsuki]

46. From what son has told me, CNN has about 250 000 viewers.

The viewing numbers are not the entire story. It is the age, education, job status, household income that set the rates. CNN could demand more from their advertisers because they are more desirable as an audience. They have disposable income. Faux is the largest, but least desirable. Would you advertise a Lexis on the Bubba channel?

[Kolesar]

41. How does that 445,000 viewers compare to CNN?

Has CNN moved back ahead of FNC ? I could not find that in the article(s).

[Hissyspit]

48. There are different ways to rank the numbers. See this article:

from a few days ago.

The Ratings Mirage
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2005

"So what are the media reports talking about? With few exceptions, stories about the media business report a single number for ratings (often expressed two different ways--as "points" or "share"). This number is often presented as if it were the result of a popularity contest or a democratic vote. But it is actually the average number of viewers watching a station or a show in a typical minute, based on Nielsen Media Research's monitoring of thousands of households.

- snip -

When an outlet reports that CNN is trailing Fox, they are almost invariably using this average tally, which Fox has been winning for the past two years. For the year 2003, Nielsen's average daily ratings show Fox beating CNN 1.02 million viewers to 665,000.

But there is another important number collected by Nielsen (though only made available to the firm's clients) that tells another story. This is the "cume," the cumulative total number of viewers who watch a channel for at least six minutes during a given day. Unlike the average ratings number the media usually report, this number gives the same weight to the light viewer, who tunes in for a brief time, as it does to the heavy viewer.

How can CNN have more total viewers when Fox has such a commanding lead in average viewers? Conventional industry wisdom is that CNN viewers tune in briefly to catch up on news and headlines, while Fox viewers watch longer for the opinion and personality-driven programming. Because the smaller total number of Fox viewers are watching more hours, they show up in the ratings as a higher average number of viewers."

[liberal N proud]

42. What's that I see, is a it a plane, No! Is it a bird, No!

It is FAUX news crashing!


YAHOOOO!
Made my day, even better will be when it goes off the air!

[farmbo]

45. Quick! Hire more replicant blondes, and throw on more makeup!

eom

[Tesla]

49. My brother acts like its the only thing allowed on TV

He turns the channel to it when he comes into your house!!!

[getmeouttahere]

94. And why do you let him do it?

[Coexist]

57. shorter skirts - bigger bullies - wimpier liberals - TO THE RAMPARTS!

[katinmn]

73. you mean like this? She looks like a Stepford wife.

[NewJeffCT]

51. I think it's the effects of Franken, AAR & Media Matters...

And, a few others. Franken's "Lying Liars" book was the first big blow, and now with AAR and Media Matters debunking their lies on a daily basis, it's finally starting to have an effect.

[Corgigal]

53. I think we will all know

if this drop is for real and for keeps in the June ratings. Right now all the channels are running their primetime line ups. I will be interesting to see what the June and July ratings are.

[smoogatz]

56. I think the word is out on Faux News

or at least we're getting there. I think, too, that the news has been pretty bad for conservatives since the election. Their two big victories since November are the Iraqi elections--yet another premature declaration of victory--and the passage of the bankruptcy bill, which is targeted (stupidly) at Bush's core constituency in the red state working class. It's also growing increasingly more difficult to blame Bill Clinton and the Democrats for the fact that the country's in the crapper--or to make a convincing case that Our Fearless Leader is doing a great job. It's kind of the same thing that happened to all the financial news channels after the stock market crash--if you're invested, you start tuning out the bad news.

[wabeewoman]

102. I would agree with you

Its the only network I've seen MANY cartoons about their 'fair and balanced' coverage. Plus many people are angry with the republicans and all it takes is one or two major disagreements with Faux's reporting and people don't watch them again. Often, even when you hate them you can't excape like when you are in the airport and all the stations are on Faux. What goes up must go down......I can't wait until all the 'mighty' repugs fall.

[Jimbo S]

59. I'm not going to take this on face value. Need to look behind the numbers

With such rabid interest in the November election from both sides of the aisle, I would expect higher ratings in November followed by a drop off.

For a more acurrate look at the situation, I would want to see two things:
1. Fox's ratings for April '05 vs. April '04. Is it lower than this time last year?
2. The ratings gap for Fox vs. CNN in April '05 vs. April '04. Is it narrowing?

[GoldenOldie]

60. Watching Fox is like watching Animal House

Animal House has been sort of a classic for college students but the charm/humor wears off as they mature.

Even highschool students that are studying politics and the media view FOX as a source of entertainment. Young hormone raging young lads, don't take the blonde bimbo's nor the continually outraged men as serious journalists.

The watch Jon Stewart, SNL, Keith Olberman, etc., and it only confirms what they already know.

[Coexist]

68. More bad news for Fox - Here's a partial answer for ya'

Also: In April 2005, FNC's weekday primetime demo average decreased 25% compared to the year-ago, while CNN increased 27%
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/fncs_2554_prime_downward_spiral_20939.asp

[Jimbo S]

103. Good find! Thanks! ...

That is more statistically relevant and more difficult to refute than the data listed in the original post. What you found FLDem should be the talking point. CNN went up while Fox went down over the same time period is a big deal to even a devil's advocate/math geek like myself.

[Coexist]

115. thanks - glad it helped

[ninjamikey]

79. Comparison between 2004 and 2005

It's not exactly an apples to apples to comparison, though. Most people are a lot more worked up about politics during election season, and more people, I'd bet, watch Fox News when they're worked up about politics.

And, April 2004 was right in the midst of primary season.

The question is whether their windfall during an election season can buoy them up during "the lean years".

[Jimbo S]

101. Good point, but keep in mind

more than a few political enthusiasts watched CNN during the (Dem) primaries and CNN's ratings are up since last April. Refer to FLDem's posts.

[ninjamikey]

145. True.

IMO, the difference seems to be that people watch CNN for actual news in and Fox News for political commentary, with a token mention of news.

Once election season is over, news continues to happen in the world, so people continue to watch CNN. The election was the only game in town for Fox News, so no more election meant no more viewers.

[tyedyeto]

62. awwww...poor Faux

does this look like I feel sorry for them? :woohoo:

Even one of my conservative relatives, who always watched Faux, now tells me she is watching less and less because of the hatred there. She's not a fundy type con but just your regular Repub that believes in fiscal responsibility. I saw her last weekend and she actually agreed with me about a couple of issues. Still can't break her away and see the light but I'll keep working on it.

[Pacifist Patriot]

65. Splendid news indeed.

[Misunderestimator]

66. Wow! 58% decline.

:thumbsup:

[smartvoter]

67. Yet CNN and MSNBC are trying to be copycats. nt

[Coexist]

70. kicking because I love seeing this headline

[Robworld]

72. Their distortion of the media have left many unhealed wounds

Even if Fox news ratings go completely in the toilet. They left there mark and served there purpose. There distortion, and lies have leaked into other media conglomerates, setting the standard for rightwing news.

http://www.dumdumgoestothecircus.com /
Website updated

[BurtWorm]

74. I hope that's not just too good to be true.

Please let that not be too good to be true!

:insert desperately pleading smiley:

[Poiuyt]

75. Does anyone know how the other channels are doing?

Are all "news" channels (CNN, MSNBC, etc.) also going down in viewership? If news junkies are growing tired of Fox, you'd think they'd switch over to one of the other channels.

[Coexist]

78. FNC's...decreased 25% CNN increased 27% compared to the year-ago

"Also: In April 2005, FNC's weekday primetime demo average decreased 25% compared to the year-ago, while CNN increased 27%"
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/fncs_2554_p...

[lala_rawraw]

76. Hmmm... now that is some mandate

[movie_girl99]

77. whoo hoo

could it be that after all of our preaching people are starting to figure it out. Faux News is shit!!!

[Hubert Flottz]

80. I helped!

At least I can take credit for removing them from my channel selector!

[spindoctor]

81. This is a sad news

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...haha

:chuckle:

[graywarrior]

82. Fox should stick to Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire instead

of Who Wants to Kill an Iraqi Population and Take Their Oil.

[aquart]

83. There is a god?

[TWiley]

87. My thoughts exactly !

Jesus is coming soon, and BOY is he PISSED

[UCLA Dem]

90. Finally folks are seeing the light!

:party:

[Singleterri]

91. All cable news networks have had ratings drops

There just isn't anything going on in the news right now. Yesterday MSNBC had a story about some birds living on someone's house in California. You no there is no news when you have stories like that.

[Coexist]

93. Riiiight. No news. Nuclear option, Galloway, Downing Street memo

Yes, their ratings dropped because of a lack of news. Sure thing.

[getmeouttahere]

96. It's not that there's no news, it's that there...

is no news that they are willing to report/cover! I mean, think of all the garbage that has come out in just the last few days...Mr. Galloway reaming the senate, Glenn Beck's death threats, reports that the Koran was indeed desecrated, etc. And that's really just the tip of the iceberg!

[SF Bay Area Dem]

122. A 58% drop? No other networks have had that...

...besides... did you not read? CNN has INCREASED by 27%...

[wtmusic]

92. Question: does this influence W's popularity or vice versa?

Chicken vs. egg?

[ernstbass]

97. I'm doing a little happy dance

[Lost-in-FL]

98. Nah, really????

And you are telling me they are not tampering with the votes this time?
That's something!

[earth mom]

99. Yup-the bottom line never lies!

I hope they lose millions and billions of dollars!

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[getmeouttahere]

106. But unlike BushCo with our tax dollars...

someone there will actually care when they start losing millions

[Mr_Spock]

104. I wish they were at zero.

I wonder how many of those are knumbskull liberals seeing what they are saying :D

[Callboy]

105. peeps is sick of

the nonsense. and the insult.

[WI_DEM]

107. there solution to get "younger People" back? anchors in swim suits

[Cell Whitman]

111. I don't expect news to be perfect but how on earth can the cult

see this

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/19/1410214&mode=thread&tid=25

and still tune into FOX is beyond me...

I mean O'Riely gets caught INTENTIONALLY deceiving the cult of conservatism and they still come back for more...

though in lesser numbers...

[SalmonChantedEvening]

116. I feel just AWFUL about this.

There are still 498,000 REALLY stupid people in my age group in the U.S.

[chomskysright]

117. THEY'RE LOSING US!: let them know u know:

[e-mail]

[outrage]

121. The Kool-aid turns rancid

I guess a few folks got tired of the lies. I used to watch it for my hate buzz, my Mom still watches it in the belief of keeping enemies closer, but it's such garbage I just stopped.

[Frederik]

123. Why watch Fox

When CNN is starting to sound like them.

[racaulk]

124. That's awesome!

Let's hope the trend continues!

:rofl: :-) :woohoo: :bounce: :applause: :rofl:

[0007]

125. Hope FAUX goes belly up!

[NegSpin]

126. They Need Us Devils

Fox News ratings being off might be a consequence of the Republicans having everything: House, Senate, presidency, everything else.

There's no legitimate "devil" for them to beat up on and get ratings. I don't watch the channel so I don't know what they're saying. But I've heard from blogs that they're still trying to pretend like Democrats are the biggest problem in the country. It seems like a tough argument to sustain when everyone knows the Republicans have their way.

They might be better off with the Democrats having some kind of actual power, give them something to get actually riled up about.

[DollyM]

128. Frankly, I'm not surprised . . .

Fox milked the whole Terri Shiavo story until the cow had ran dry and then milked it some more. I became so disgusted with the whole news network that I had our satellite service disconnected. We have been TV free since April first and I don't miss it a bit. I get my news from newspapers and the radio, nicer to be able to digest information without all the images of screaming people throwing themselves on the ground and slobbering in front of a Hospice (Terri Shiavo case).

[Geek_Girl]

140. I just don't watch cable news anymore

I watch HBO and Comedy Central. My kid watches Noggin. It's great to be cable news free. I get my news from the Washington Post, BBC and Du.

[Deep N RedLand]

129. Let's not jump to conclusions.

While it's good news that Faux's ratings are slipping it may not have as much to do as people getting tired of the slant, but simply the 24/7 coverage of non-news like the Shivio case, Runaway Bride and Micheal Jackson case. Add to that, the epidemic of lost kid/pedophile stories that while under the guise of keeping people informed to protect their kids, I see as more of an effort to use fear and the "Oh, my God, that's terrible" reaction to hook viewers.

My only problem I have with the Newshound article is the suggestion to watch progressive shows instead, just for the simple fact there is none!
Aside from the Daily Show, which while accurate, is more comedy than a news program, I've yet to see liberal or even moderate, unbiased views on cable. They are either token guests to be yelled at and dissed on Con shows or weak pretenders like Alan Colmes.

While Chris Matthews, who may or may not still be a Democratic, seems to flip-flop between moderate and left-center, I can't watch him anymore due to his long winded droning and constant reminder of his past achievements dropped into conversations.

[geckosfeet]

130. Could not happen to a nicer group of psychotics.

I think their rhetoric is so out of touch, and that they have offended so many decent reasonable people with their extremism, that the few viewers that stay with them are the hardcore ditto heads and Mr.Cuckoobananas worshiper's.

[bejammin075]

133. Could it be cyclical?

Like, certain time of the year, or because of the election? Just tossing that out there. Are the other networks haveing stable ratings?

[MADem]

142. Too soon, too rainy, too....

Ratings drop across the board in summer, when people are outside, at the beach, having fun...July and August are death for TV. But it has been COLD for May in most parts of the country, rainy, too, so you would think people would be indoors watching the usual shit. They are, but they found the friken remote and USED it.

A harbinger of things to come, hopefully...

[AuntiBush]

136. Would it be "Childish" of me to say... "Serves ya right !"

We reap what we sow...

:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:

[RummyTheDummy]

138. As I've said many times

To Faux Fans who like to trumpet the network's ratings -- it's the same fucking 1-2 million people watching from 6-10 p.m. every night through their entire lineup of crappy shows. Even when their numbers were higher, they weren't very impressive when you consider them in that context.

[joefree1]

141. BOOM!

Think Rupert will apply for Australian citizens?

[zann725]

143. Couldn't happen to not-so-nicer people. (Sigh.)

n/t

[Champion Jack]

149. kicked

[Coexist]

150. kicking because this title is sweet to see!

[ray of light]

152. be the media, be the school, and educate them.