An 'ominous trend' for Fox News' ratings
In the first quarter of 2008, Fox News, after six years of cable-news ratings dominance, saw itself slip into second place behind CNN in the so-called “money demo” — viewers in their mid-20s through mid-50s, who advertisers care about most. The shift came thanks to a series of competitive primary nights and debates among Democratic candidates, after the Republican nomination had already been settled.
As it turns out, in the second quarter, as the Democratic race quieted down and the general election campaigning began, Fox News reclaimed the lead, but just barely. The NYT notes that the “back-and-forth these last few months masks a more ominous trend for Fox News.”
The most dominant cable news channel for nearly a decade and a political force in its own right, Fox has seen its once formidable advantage over CNN erode in this presidential election year, as both CNN and MSNBC have added viewers at far more dramatic rates.
In the first five-and-a-half months of 2004, the last presidential election year, Fox’s prime-time audience among viewers aged 25 to 54 was more than double that of CNN’s — 530,000 to 248,000, according to estimates from Nielsen Media Research. This year, through mid-June, CNN erased the gap and drew nearly as many viewers in that demographic category as Fox — about 420,000 for CNN to 440,000 for Fox.
Meanwhile, CNN has added 170,000 viewers a night, on average, when compared with the last presidential year, while Fox has shed about 90,000, according to Nielsen. (MSNBC, which added 181,000 viewers in that audience, much of it courtesy of gains by “Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” still lagged in third place, with 303,000.)
Clearly, the Democratic race, and the fact that the Democratic candidates wouldn’t debate on Fox News, had something to do with the shift. But as the NYT noted, “[D]isproportionate interest in the Democratic campaign alone cannot explain the struggles of Fox relative to years past, and the gains of its competitors.”
“I don’t think it’s that Fox has slipped,” said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who managed Bob Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996. “I just think MSNBC and CNN have risen to the occasion in a far more creative way, with better guests, cooler maps and more interactive shows.” […]
CNN and MSNBC have somehow managed to photocopy several pages from the playbook of Roger Ailes, the founder of Fox News and its chairman, whose emphasis on sharp opinions, glitzy graphics and big personalities has been taken to heart by competitors like CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Mr. Olbermann and his running mate on MSNBC, Chris Matthews.
Maybe. But I’d offer an alternative explanation: as the conservative movement falls apart, and the country is ready to move away from the Bush/Republican status quo, Fox News’ schtick has grown pretty tiresome. Time’s James Poniewozik argued recently that the network “has to figure out how not to seem like yesterday’s news.”
There’s something to be said for this. In Bush’s America, with Republicans in ascension, Fox News became the official network of the federal government. Officials were anxious to dish propaganda, and the network was anxious to help disseminate it. The audience for GOP talking points has, however, grown smaller as the party’s failures became more overwhelming. Given this, it’s no wonder CNN has practically caught up to FNC in the “money demo,” and MSNBC isn’t too far behind.
I’d add, though, that the nation’s good fortune may actually be Fox News’ life-preserver. If, come January, there’s a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress for the first time in 16 years, there are going to be plenty of suddenly-motivated conservatives looking for a news outlet to tell them how awful the governing party is. Fox News and its audience want someone to be mad at, and come 2009, they’ll probably have no shortage of options.
Maybe some of their viewers woke up and realized that they had been hoodwinked by Fox. Any station that has to say a zillion times a day that they are fair and balanced, probably isn't.
FOX is boring and has been proven to make too many false statements. The viewers are catching on and moving onto more informative news, not that the MSM provides much in that respect. CNN and MSNBC are better than FOX when it comes to facts.
FOX News will be known as the "Stalker News Network".
pissed off patricia @ 1:
Agree... when you hear FOX News reporters speaking the traitor Rove Republican line, then you know that transference is happening. Whatever these anti-Americans say about someone else, really applies to themselves.
I think even the most ardent fox viewer has now figured them out for what they really are, which is the neo-con wing of the republican parties official media arm, also their audience is predominantly old people, a lot of them are probably dying off, literally.
FOX News is really failing, because the network is all trash-talk, but no substance. That approach works when the people doing it have personality, but fails when you realize they're just broken records. Actually, I imagine the only reason they were ever popular was because they made viewers feel good about the war; but when they currently just remind people we're still at war, then they've out-lived their usefulness. No one wants to think about it, anymore, when they have enough problems at home. So I imagine the key to MSNBC and CNN's success is they spend more time focusing on local and domestic issues than FOX.
Also, if the Dems win in '08, I actually think the conservative hosts are going to be more irrelevant, since the public will be more concerned with whether or not their vote counted than some stupid character assassination ploy by H+C.
andy @ 4:
me thinks you assume way too much. never underestimate american ignorance. i know people like to say the american people aren't stupid. if that's true, then why are we here? i'm not saying that individually there aren't deep pockets of intelligence. but as a whole, we're the dumb, mean kid in 8th grade that just wants to pick on the little people. sorry.
"about 420,000 for CNN to 440,000 for Fox."
This shows me that there are still 440,000 extremely stupid people who think Saddam was responsible for 9/11,and that warrant less wire tapping is keeping America safe.Who knows what the 420,000 CNN folks think?Who cares?CNN is getting more like FOX in many areas anyway.
fox has been much more fair to hillary than the other networks (not saying much) . . .i used to say that i'd never watch them but they are starting to reveal the truth about obama so maybe i'll start watching them again; any news org. that's 'in the tank' for obama will never get my support (e.g., msnbc, abc, cbs, etc.)
Methinks you're celebrating a bit early. You make it sound like CNN and MSNBC are radically different from Fox...which is certainly NOT the case. Fox's demise doesn't mean we're suddenly going to get a liberal POV from the media. Hardly. It may be good that Fox is losing viewers but please don't expect us to be happy that CNN and MSNBC are gaining viewers. Please.
If you watched MSNBC this morning you would think they were trying out to be the next Fox news. On Morning Joe, Mika was all outraged along with Andrea Mitchell, about what General Clark said yesterday about Senator McCain not necessarily being ready to be the next president just because his plane was shot down in Vietnam. They said that the comment could backfire on the Obama campaign. That would be the exact thing I would expect to hear on Fox.
Two mornings recently I flipped from MSNBC to Fox and both shows were talking about the same subject with the same attitude toward their discussions.
What is amazing is that there are a million people stupid enough to watch any of those channels. Get a life.
Fox is not a news outlet. It's primarily a commentary outlet.Cult of personality.
Has Keith Olbermann had any effect on FAUX news?
Now days it has a totally new meaning to say someone's been KO'd.
Only channel Cheney will watch. That says it all.
Fox has such cute news bunnies!
SlowBurn @ 8:
Fox being "fair" to Hillary speaks volumes to me.
Fox News is Dying liberal blog post #10,214.
Soon to follow: Sy Hersh claims US about to declare war on Iran, John McCain gets a free pass from the conservatively biased media, and the daily 'Republicans are racist' posts.
Fox cancelled Futurama, Firefly, and Family Guy. Why do they hate shows starting with 'F'?!?!?
Lukcily someone bitch slapped whoever cancelled Family Guy, and they brought it back. But the others, why not? They won't even sell Joss Wedon back his rights to the TV show Firefly so he can put it on a different network, even though they refuse to bring it back. Assholes. Same with Futurama. They obviously realize the shows have potential because they refuse to let them go to other networks. Fox sucks.
so
FUX VIEWERS
and
CNN viewers
are waking up!?
and boosh's 18% approval is just above Congress at 13% and they still don't get that people are turning them off.
dennis @ 17:
Hey birchtree I noticed you stop posting "at that other site" after you got your ass handed to you. What up with that?
harley @ 16:
Hillary was Murdock's pick!
dennis @ 17:
truth is always truth, whether you like it or not.
princess @ 17:
Princess runs to the rescue of faux post #350,340
Soon to follow: Dick Cheney claims US will be attacked if Obama is elected, Obama has a funny middle name, and the daily O'Racist "ratings" post.
It is racism pure and simple.
America faces for the first time a n_____r in the White House, that isn't staff. It's hard enough for them to cope with inter
racial dating and marriage or their sons worshiping African American sports stars. Now the President is one of THEM.
FOX News is a known outlet that will ease their guilt for the racism they feel, and know is wrong. FOX News gives them that
taste of the white male establishment they need to face the fact they have been outsourced, their kids are on meth, the trailer
is about to be repossessed, and Kid Rock has quit putting out records.
The reich-wing GOPigs have the worst president in the history of the United States, but, Faux is #1, Faux is #1, Faux is #1, Faux is #1. LOL.
excellent summary!!!!!
Bragging that "Faux is #1" is like Chrysler bragging they are number 1 of the big 3 automakers.
It's the home shopping network for Republican conservatism. If you are a wingnut in the age group of 73-90 you watch and get affirmation to your delusions about America.
Dr. (Fast Eddie) Matt @ 23:
Bolton: If Obama Wins, Israel Will Attack Iran
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126609
marko @ 24:
id·i·ot Pronunciation [id-ee-uht] –noun 1. an utterly foolish or senseless person.
2. Psychology. a person of the lowest order in a former classification of mental retardation, having a mental age of less than three years old and an intelligence quotient under 25.
harley @ 29:
that was last weeks news.
I haven't watched TV in months and I have never watched fux, but all tv news is propaganda anyway so why bother? I get my news online when I want. I used to watch K.O. but suspected he was on to rile us up for a day and then it was on to another subject. A release valve letting off steam so the machine didn't explode sort of thing.
What's bizarre to me is how many people think FOX is a news station! I had a friend over the other night extolling Bill Oreilly's credentials. At about that moment, Keith O came on with a worst persons featuring none other than Bill-O. He showed the Bill clip about being upset about the use of the F word and then showed the Inside Edition clip with Bill-O dropping the F-bomb. Needless to say, my friend flip-flopped immediately and admitted that Keith was a genius and that Bill-O was...NOT. But we all knew that already.
stonicus @ 18:
Fox really seems to dislike Sci-Fi and shows staring Nathan Fillion. At least, after dragging it out as long as it could, it's bringing back the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Is anyone else getting kicked to an ad site sometimes when they click on "comments" on C&L's home page? It's happened to me twice this morning and once yesterday.
Imagine the segments Fox will have during an Obama presidency. I don't want to even think about it.
BaScOmBe hearts Lara Logan @ 31:
Opps. I screwed up and posted this in your text.
Just pointing out we have the same pattern as pre 2004 elections, raise the fear level with each passing day:
Lieberman: Al Qaeda, Iran would control Iraq under Obama plan
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=attack%20iran%20if%20obama%20elected...
The GOP is using June 2004 tactics in June 2008.
Princess runs to the rescue of faux post #350,340
Soon to follow: Dick Cheney claims US will be attacked if Obama is elected, Obama has a funny middle name, and the daily O'Racist "ratings" post.
Bolton: If Obama Wins, Israel Will Attack Iran
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126609
that was last weeks news.
pissed off patricia @ 35:
Yeah, and it screws up quoted text. Beware.
pissed off patricia @ 35:
Yeah, and it happened a few times last week.
Faux news. Wash, rinse, repeat. Nothing new here. Wash, rinse, repeat.
FOX is semi literate, mediocre personalities with Bush cheerleaders who overreact, lots of make-up and plenty of beavershots.
Yes, the "news" channel that has the coolest maps should have the authority to tell us which presidential candidate we would rather have a beer with.
...and people wonder how we got into this current mess.
archmunster @ 9:
Exactly. CNN has the mephitic Glenn Beck, after all. Perhaps the only reason FOX is losing viewers is that those who savor dittoheadery have realized they have a choice of sources. :^(
Faux noise is killing itself with its Reslug partisan hacks that spew hatred and habitual lies.
If anyone wants a good laugh, look at the faux news entry at conservapedia. They claim faux is "fair and balanced" by providing a citation that links to the faux logo that says "fair and balanced". It's no surprise that princess identifies so well with these mental midgets
Can O' Whoopass @ 41:
Like this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1AlNVhBzto
No surprise here. Fox News has two stories: Democrats are Destroying America, and Pretty White Girl Goes Missing. Read from the teleprompter by babes with nice cleavage or, occasionally, Shepard Smith.
It was inevitable that people would get tired of having their reptilian brain stimulated and wander off in search of something more closely approximating actual news coverage.
Keith O Chris M ------ and they say fox is all lies --- well the line forms to the right and Msnbc is in the lead ---- and obama was their boy. What are you gonna tell me that my lying ears head it wrong? Finding facts and honest reporting has become a full-time job -- and I hate not trusting any of them -- but fools we be if we do.
Like everything GOP, even their base is dying!
Republican, the party that's dying! Join us, won't you?
(hussien)moondancer @ 28:
Ding ding: we have a winner!
dennis @ 17:
And when Bush does invade Iran, you will be right for the first time in your life. Congratulations!
Old dumb people are dying off (and I'm one of em though like to think I'm not as dumb as most). Once they are gone, Fox News ratings are in the toilet along with the Republican Party.
harley @ 16:
Especially since she was trying to cozy up to Rupert Murdock. There's was just too much about Hillary I did not trust, and when I found out she was trying to befriend Murdock, I know she had sold her soul to the devil.
It was Obama has the best chance to win. We should support him. While I would have preferred John Edwards or Kucinich by a small margin, I think we could do a lot worse than Barack.
He's miles better than McBush. If that crazy old man gets elected, our country will officially become a facist state.
Do you want people breaking into your home? Tapping your phone (oh wait, that's already happening)? Seizing your property (That's already happening too).
We have to put a stop to the GOP agenda. These are very greedy, evil men who want to see you become slaves. To see a perfect example of the world they want, read George Orwell's 1984. That's the world they want. A world of endless war, with made up enemies, where all the people are idiots and must follow propaganda by law.
It's time to say enough.
ysbaddaden @ 46:
More like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77pQeypTKJM
Cameras set to crotch level.
Please remember this, and it's an important point:
Conservatives need to be led by an authority figure. Liberals are more suspicious of an all-knowing authority.
No matter what happens, Fox Nooz will have an audience that needs them far more than CNN's audience needs CNN. Those Fox folks need to have someone tell them what to think.
Let me add one more thing: Fox Nooz is not now and never has been about the news or even about the hot issues of the day.
Its purpose, according to one of the guys who founded it (read him at http://www.caos.us/), is to make formerly extreme Republican ideas seem reasonable by making everything sound extreme. That's why Democrats Are Gonna Kill Us All and why White Women Seem To Go Missing A Lot. Their purpose is not as stories, but as ways to make the crazy seem sane.
DB @ 55:
There is NO SUCH THING as an 'all knowing' authority figure. Break out of the habit of thinking that way.
Numinous @ 57:
Ahhh, Ronald Reagan.
Looks like Keith Olbermann finally figured out a way to shift some of those ardent Fox viewers to his side of the ratings race; out Clinton-bash the Clinton-bashers.
This is hardly a trend worth celebrating.
I might have been impressed if he had done it by reminding his viewers of the superiority of the best two-term administration of the last century. But to have done it through the same revisionist, smarmy, lying, editing, truncating and Clinton-bashing spin made famous by his Fox competitor is nauseating.
The trend I would welcome would be if they all went extinct.
Where are the journalists? They are few and far between. They are not to be found on Cable TV making five hundred thousand, let alone five million a year.
Cable TV news is a hoax.
Alice X @ 60:
That should read Corporate TV news is a hoax.
I guess FOX is realizing that after a while, even perverts get bored with nothing but T&A and want some substance in their newscasts. I'n not sure if FOX is up to the challenge however.
Whatever happened to just reporting the news?
Those were the good ol' days. Now if you want news, you need to tune in the foreign outlets like BBC World because here in America, you can't tell which is opinion and which is factual news.....the two have been blurred thanks to the dumbing down of America by the pseudo-conservative establishment.
listen to yourselves, you tell each other how stupid fox news watchers are and how smart watchers of cnn and msnbc are. the truth is you are all phonies, you don't like fox? use the remote and watch something else. but, most of you don't even have sense enough to do that.
The Exotic Chico Hussein Escuela @ 62:
Oh, I never get bored with that:D I just get bored by whats coming out of their mouth! If they would just sit there and shut up, then Fox news would have some substance.
The truth is simple. Four years ago Fox was not as much of a Bush cheer leader as it is now. As Fox cheered more and more loudly for Bush who was sinking more and more in the esteem of Americans, it became apparent that it was an arm of the Bush White House especially during the Scooter Libby affair when all the Administration wen to Fox to air their concerns.
Most remarkably. O'Reilly turned out to be a big bag of wind. Like the other hater on CNN, Dobbs, his appeal reached a limited audience of disgruntled persons who finally woke up. They realized that these men with their millions were trying to have the hard working average American act and vote against his or her own interest. It took the endless war in Iraq and the spike in food and fuel for them to wake up to realize that the last people in the world O'Reilly and Dobbs cared about was them.
jim @ 64:
I don't watch Fox OR MSNBC. I might watch clips of Olberman, but, for the most part, corporate news is a complete sham.
The fact is, most people who watch Fox news are less educated than people who use more substantial news sources. I know you'll cry foul, but you can't claim I'm making that up. Remember your Buddy O'Racist? He tried to claim that people who watch Colbert and Stewart were just stoned slackers. Funny thing was, if you looked at the statistics, most of those people who watch those shows had a MUCH higher chance of graduating college and perusing professional careers.
That fact alone says a lot.
I tend to use the BBC for news. They have a site that specializes in American News. Funny thing is, the information they give is much more substantial and factual than most news sources IN America.
That also says a lot.
We have too many people in America who are uncaring of what goes on around them. They want news sources that virtually amount to soft porn channels, or reality TV.
Those people are idiots. What even worse, is that they breed like rats.
There is very little choice between CNN and Fox - both are dismal examples of the worst of broadcast journalism. As for the drop in Fox viewers, merely a case of their bodies catching up with their brains.
Fox News is the only news station still telling the truth about Barack Obama. CNN and MSNBC are the worst sort of journalism I have ever seen. They can't even begin to match the investigative reporting of Fox's own Sean Hannity.
Just Say No Deal to CNN and MSNBC. PUMA '08.
I don't watch any of them. They all suck. I do have FAUX News blocked on my remote so I guess that does mean it sucks more.
P.S.
And Nancy H. Armstrong is apparently insane. That is all.
Nancy H. Armstrong @ 69:
I am curious. Tell us readers what is FOX's truth about Obama.
That's why I'm glad I watch the BBC instead
Like wartime Germany, who knew better than to listen to Goebbel's bs.
It's Me @ 59:
I kind of agree. Two wrongs don't make a right. But this is war. Everytime I watch that Horrible Sean Hannity, I just want to strangle him. And Hannity's America, is my hell.
Llyonnoc @ 66:
I used to like Dobbs. But now he is so holier than thou that he makes me sick. Ever since he did not get an apology from Obama for calling him anti immigrant, he's been bad mouthing him. He, like a lot of other "news" casters are too personal and not impartial. But as for FOX, folks are getting wise to them, except old folks. FOX is a Neo-Con station. Why don't they just say so.
jim @ 64:
I like comedy and FOX delivers. I love how folks get their talking points and parrot it back on C-Span the next day. Fair and Balanced with winnies like Alan Colmes and Uncle Juan Williams.
Corporate propanda. The usual babble from the neo-con, neo-liberal hand puppets.
olberman, o'reilly, matthews, hannitty, colmes, geraldo, gregory, carlson etc..... are laughing at all of us for even talking about them. all the way to the bank. think about it, which one wouldn't change his network and his views for a few dollars more?
Nancy H. Armstrong @ 69:
WHAT??? I have never heard foxnuwz tell the truth about anything.
Fox ENTERTAINMENT is the official station of the Republic party. Anything you watch or listen to must be approved by the RNC, otherwise they have to go to stories like the poor girl that disappeared in Aruba.
Some people say Fox Entertainment is not going to be in business four years from now. The Republic party is also going down the tubes with all their hate and war mongering. Americans are finally awakening from their GOP (Gay Old Perverts) coma. "Some people say........"
ysbaddaden @ 13:
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