Olbermann's NBC Ratings
By John Amato Sunday Aug 26, 2007 5:50pm
Without much promotion Keith did very good for the first time on Sunday. This isn't a new day for Countdown yet. NBC wasn't airing the pre-game show "Football Night in America," so a slot opened up and they took it.
The upshot: in total viewers it beat "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" on Fox. But finished behind "60 Minutes" and "America's Funniest Videos." 4,146,000 total viewers watched.
More: An emailer writes, "4M viewers...is one hell of a sampling...I wouldn't kiss that number off." For context: Olbermann averaged 721,000 viewers each night in July. Almost 6 times as many watched last night...
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Frist
Its obviously to know that Olbermann has merit.
=P
Not all stations broadcast Keith so that explains why he didn't get higher ratings than AFHV.
Olbermann '08 for christs sake!
Baltimore didnt show him. Many others didnt either. Either way, sounds like good numbers to me
HA! Got it!!! Boy what a great day. We get rid of gonzo, drag a hypocritical scumbag out of the closet in one of the reddest states of the Union, and now, we get roughly 1.5% of the country, a large portion of which I would imagine are apolitical indy types exposed to the Keith. It's a beautiful thing.
V V
That might seal it's fate as an experiment.
hooray for keith olberman.
anyone throwing the hatchet job on his ratings should realize 4,000,000 viewers is something this show never has done and I doubt Billo ever had that big an audience for any show. This is a big sucess no matter what spin you hear, this was accomplished while it was not shown in all markets.
I'd like to see the ratings on 'America's most closeted republicans' show.
doesn't O'Lielly have around 2 mill a night......if so.....he just blew his lying ass's doors off....just wait till he does one of his special comments............good for you KO..keep up the good work....we thank you.
Aired after the game at 10 p.m. in my area. I was disappointed because the people I had asked to watch with me for their "introduction" to KO said he talked so fast that they couldn't grasp what he was saying. They really wanted to be impressed, but they weren't. And they sure didn't like all the silly stuff--which seemed to be more than usual. I don't think they'll bother to check him out on MSNBC. Sigh.
hadenuf @ 10:
It's only watched by "beltway insiders".
PNAAC Minister @ 13:
Or perhaps beltless.
and he didn't air here till 10 pm.....left coast
My only problem with it: The show they aired was not up to their usual standards. The "commenters" they had on weren't funny, and the news they covered was less than interesting. Otherwise, good going.
Congratulations Keith!! Sundays Best Person in the Wooooorrrrrlllllld!
Keith will be the first of quite a few new faces... I call them the "truth tellers"
Americans are sick of the lies...both from the liars themselves and the media hacks that bolster those lies. Limbag, Insannity, Beck, whom I personally know (Glen you talked a great spiritual game...but it was all talk now huh? )...etc. PACK YOUR F"N BAGS BOYS... YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED
Truth will rein in this beautiful country very soon :)
Including the events of 9/11
Scott
mudshark @ 11:
Well, muddy, he'll have to make a special comment this comin' Sunday(if they run him in the same slot),'cause the followin' Sunday NBC will run their pre-game show at 7pm ET.
IMO, they dumbed the show down a bit(I don't have cable, but when I've watched a whole Countdown in the past it just seemed sharper), and NBC didn't really promote the show...
Thinking Person @ 12:
All dem big wurrrds wuz sed reel fast durrr. Wah he gawta be awl silly-lak thurr. Urrrr. *BURP*
Andy K @ 19:
It was not meant to be his best work, it is a typical Countdown show thrown on a bigger stage. I know about thirty other programs he done that was better than this one but funny how an average broadcast drew 4,000,000. His best work will stay with MSNBC. He done a great job nonetheless.
"We didn't kill the Wicked Witch of the West (North South or East) today... but we damn sure got one of his flying monkeys." - WinterBear TrueHeart, Aug 27, 2007.
Andy K...I think his guests got stage fright......and Mo Rocca.....I don't think the folks at home are quite ready for him yet....he too looked stuck in the headlights.....but hey it was their first time in the huge leagues.....they'll get better........4 mill+ .....that in itself is very imressive....O'Lielly can only dream of getting those kind of ratings.......OHHHH.... he must be fuming..LOL
the thing aired on a delay basis here on the left coast
play it live and watch the ratings soar
plus, the only hype ive seen about it is on blogs
promote, promote, promote....give it time, and watch it grow
Not bad, Keith!! Americans need a big dose of Truth - and Keith's the guy to give it to them. As for Countdown's ratings against O"LyingsackO'shit, people have to keep in mind that Fox is a basic cable channel in most markets, whereas MSNBC is usually included in a higher tier of programming ( I have satellite, so that's my take on it. Maybe it's different with cable? I dunno). "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" - FOX should really change the title. I mean, the question stumps their audience every time.
winterbear @ 22:
Did you just quote yourself?
Agreed that it was a typical Countdown show. The goofball format the producers force upon him really stuck out negatively in that time slot and stage, even more so than normally.
Andy K @ 19:
Can you imagine if he made a special comment that was so Firey....I'm not sure that would go over well with the wrong wing folks at home getting primed for the game.......yikes....oh well...they'll get over it.......someday
True that it seemed odd-ball & keeping tabs heavy, i think it was a conscious effort to give the show a "broad appeal" and tone the politics down. I wasn't pleased but I fear they'll swing to far in the other direction next time and the "he talks to fast" crowd will be totally driven away. They need to get the balance there is on the average show.
You're a fucking pathetic little 10 year old mate.
Here on the West Coast where I live the local station never once adjusted their schedule so that I could find out when or even if it would be shown. It wasn't shown immediately after the football game, at nine there was a Dateline NBC, and finally Keith showed up at 10 and I almost missed him having given up. So considering that, the four million isn't bad.
Those rating ARE high!! High enough I bet if NBC has any producers with working brain cells they are now looking at making an opening for Keith. Way to go Keith, keep spreading truth. I think it's catching on!
this is going to scare the shit out of nbc.
abc is free neocon tv, so it probably don't mean much as they do specialize in dumbTV.
the future is going to shape up nicely.
the only caveat I have is the exposure may be a way of trying to rein KO in.
RE: #20 "Cythraul Says:"
Thanks for insulting my well-educated, intelligent friends who are the "independents" we need to bring on board. If you've returned to this thread and bothered to read other comments, you'll see I'm not the only one who was disappointed.
The effect of this NBC airing will be seen in whether KO's rating at MSNBC go up as a result.
What have YOU done to bring people on board?
Slucid @ 29:
Ooooo, a tough guy. How dreamy.
I like Keith Olbermann -- but the NBC show was way too dumbed down and silly.
Also there was confusion by local stations as to when it was really going to be on. Here in Phoenix, it came on at 10pm.
I must have been asleep as I had no idea this was happening. Count me in. I don't have cable so I only get to see Olberman clips on the internet. So this will be a real treat for me. Thanks.
Not all stations broadcast Keith so that explains why he didn’t get higher ratings than AFHV
He was pre-empted here in Philly by the Iggle pregame show, dammit!
hadenuf @ 10:
Great idea for a show! I'd watch it and chuckle all the way!!
Very respectable for a first outing, I'd say. Beating Fox was a given...and coming in behind the venerable "60 Minutes" is NO disgrace. Even without promotion and not airing in all markets, he most certainly did well enough to merit a second chance.
Go, KO!
The rightwing nuts are trying to do a hatchet job on Keith Olbermann now on the NBC Sports bulletin board website below -
http://boards.nbcuni.com/nbcs/
Under NFL Football (Subforum)
http://boards.nbcuni.com/nbcs/index.php?showforum=4
Slucid @ 29:
Actually, I'm a well educated 36 year old who can hold forth at length and in detail about social and economic issues.
Care for my explanation about why supply side economics are a crock of shit? Or how right wing "pro-life" positions have at their aim the intention of keeping people saddled with unwanted children, and therefore tending towards beaten down, uneducated etc.
Why are you being a wanker about a tiny touch of harmless amusement?
V V
we lost souls out here in Idaho got local and national news , then the game , period. I don't watch football btw,,,
In Philly, it didnt air. Instead there was local football coverage on NBC from 7-8 before the eagles game. Surely that hurt ratings a bit (fifth largest city in the country, 5.8 million people who couldnt see the show)
Las Vegas aired it but at 10PM. WTG Keith!!!
For some more perspective, consider this:
Countdown did DOUBLE what Bill O'Reilly does on an average night. I created a chart for a visual representation of this. Pass it around.
Countdown Up On NBC
Keith creamed Bill-O. This has got to just BURN O'Reilly.
Kieth is the greatest!!! His ratings would be higher if it was televised through out the country. Right wing owned stations SUCKS.
Love you, Keith!
Fuck Keith Olberman, isn't anyone going to pay attention to me? I'm out of jail now ya know. I'm doing things to make the world a better place ya know. I think Olberman is the most worst person in the world. He's worser than Brit. She's just a slut, ya gotta respect that, but he keeps making fun of Bill O'Reilly. What's so bad about Bill? He's a slut too. What's the prob?
Unfortunately, I think those numbers solidify last night's broadcast of Countdown as a one-and-done showing. NBC had nothing to lose, since last night's Pitt-Philly matchup was a preseason game, and the regular Football Night In America pregame show doesn't start until the regular season (with Olbermann on board as a studio host), leaving an otherwise empty program slot. 4 million viewers is a great showing for Countdown, but it's below average for a prime time Sunday night show on a major broadcast network.
I think the best value for last night's Countdown broadcast on NBC is that it introduced the show to a large general audience, many of whom don't otherwise tune into cable news and might have never seen Keith Olbermann doing non-sports programming. (In that respect, I think going with more of the celeb/oddball news segments was the way to go, because like it or not, most people don't live and breathe politics) Hopefully, Olbermann gained some new viewers and will further add to the big ratings gains Countdown has already attracted this year.
Yo Woody Woodchifer, how boring. Let's talk about me!!!
It won't be reflected in the ratings but, for the first time in years, I left 60 Minutes and watched Keith. And I'd do it again.
Yo btchakir, slow down. You're really getting radical there. You're boring my tits off!!! I can relate though, because I'd do most things again.
#45
Decent analysis there. What kind of numbers do you think O'Reilly would pull down if his show preceded an NFL broadcast?
Congratulation Keith Olbermann, you have drawn a large audience that truly support quality journalism. You and Bill Moyers are a few that we have left to trust. Keep up the good job of reporting the facts and not distorting it with opinions.
Billo took it really hard, he did not show up to tape his show today and had gossip columnist Michele Malkin do the show. KO does his show LIVE, hard to distort facts on a live show. Billo would have a fit, he needs more than a seven second delay for his selective editing. Billo is usually at home at 8:00 PM, he never misses Countdown.
Congrats to Keith
I'm so happy that Keith finally got what he has always deserved and that is a larger, prime time audience, however, I have to admit that much of the fluidity of his program, his fantastic ability to speak off the cuff as only Keith can, was restrained, and quite honestly, people would like him much more on MSNBC.
Either way, that exposure was a good thing and I applaud NBC.
I also think if Keith were not part of the Sunday night NFL broadcast NBC likely would have not aired the show. The MSM has carefully remained absurdly neutral to the Bush disaster, and I dont think someone with Keith's opinion would have ever seen primetime if he wasn't going to be doing Sunday night broadcasts. Just my opinion, of course, but it was out of character for NBC to do this. Or any of the MSM to air shows like this one in primetime. This is the same network that canned Phil Donahue.
[...] aired Sunday on NBC, and did very well. It’s encouraging to [...]
Hoof- Hearted...that's a keeper all right. I was thrilled to see KeithO on the big screen, even if it was the same-sized screen as usual. It's like one of your fellow chess club members got a date with the cool girl, who was all snooty and was just going out on a date to spite her boyfriend, but then all the other girls finally got to see the chess geek in a whole new light, and fell in love with him, and then he could date anybody he wanted to. I just hope he doesn't leave the chess club behind in the dust.
Angel Of Mercy @ 39:
OK, we have a program that wasn't listed in my TV section, that most people were unfamiliar with, that was only promoted on news programs, that people in various very large markets had to look for (if they could find it at all) rather than just tune in to. He aired after a football game, local news and Dateline on the West Coast, for god's sake! 60 minutes has a well-established 30 year audience and AFV viewers don't exactly seem like Keith's crowd.
Look folks, I don't have cable and if it weren't for the net, I would have missed it myself. (I zap commercials.) Boy, I woulda been pissed! Four million is great for a forst outing against a stacked deck! Rock on!!!
I never saw the program, and i was waiting, they actually did play a pre-game show in my area of orange county, ca.
It would have been more, but some of us tuned in to watch and found that it was pre-empted by a football show. Nice one, NBC.
Countdown is bar far, the best news show on television. I used to hate Keith on Sportscenter because I thought he was a know-it-all, but after watching his show the last year, I guess I was right. He does know everything. He is entertaining, bold and above all, a true American. Congrats Keith!
I just have one question....Which intern has to pick up all those papers after the top three newsmakers segment???
They didn't have Olbermann's show on our local station (San Francisco). But, I watch him every night on MSNBC. I'm glad he got some exposure on network TV. I'd like to see his show on network TV to counterbalance the vacuum in current news programming.
I wonder how many mini-strokes the Falafel man had over this?
CalGal, KO was on at 10pm in SF. It was a really watered down version of Countdown, except for the top newsmakers and Worst Person in the World segments. Then he was 100% Keith. Or, as I like to call him, HunkahunkaburningolberMann.
Are you people all shut-ins or in jail? Don't you have any real people to talk to? How many more of you are going to write something that says the exact same thing as everybody else. I've had my tits totally bored off by you people!!!
As many on here have noted, the key problem for Keith is that may local affiliates preempted the show with other programming. The show finished last in its time slot, but was shown in far fewer homes than its competition. Seems that our conservative friends continually forget to mention this on other blogs as they bash Keith. Let's help by reminding them when necessary ;)
Great new information, jason!
Seems like you bloggers just like to hear the echoing sounds of your own voices. And I thought I was a vacuous jackass.
Olbermann is the future.
from IMDB:
'Countdown': Down for the Count?
Keith Olbermann's Countdown will probably be counted out of contention for the pre-game slot preceding NBC's Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football, several analysts agreed Monday as overnight ratings indicated that the show attracted just 4.3 million viewers, putting it in last place among the four major networks. (The football game itself drew 10.3 million in its first half hour.) Although Olbermann had said that he did not intend to alter Countdown for its broadcast network showcase, some critics maintained that that's exactly what he did, watering down his often hard-hitting liberal commentaries.
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