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08/13/2003 Archived Entry: "A little perspective..."
A little perspective... Along with the F&B blog post, it seems I acquired a new troll, who kept harping on how Fox was #1 and we liberals just couldn't stand it. I mentioned that the cable news viewership pool was small - and I arbitrarily threw out a number of 2 million. That number was inaccurate - the total cable news viewership pool is probably closer to twice that. In that respect, my new troll was correct. But in that thread (which, BTW, is by far the longest thread in B3 history, even without my new troll), someone posted a link to Neilsen's Cable TV ratings. We'll get to those numbers in a minute, but first I'll show you the example my new troll put up as an example of Fox News kicking ass, from the week of April 14-20 of this year (don't ask me why this week was picked, although I have a guess that it's the best ratings week my new troll could find for Fox): 1. California attorney general news conference (Friday, 9:13 p.m.) (Fox) - 3.5, 3.76 million homes.
2. "Hannity & Colmes" (Friday, 9 p.m) (Fox) - 3.2, 3.43 million homes.
3. California police news conference (Friday, 9:21 p.m.) (Fox) - 3.2, 3.39 million homes.
4. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), (Fox) - 3.0, 3.25 million homes.
5. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Monday, 8 p.m.) (Fox) - 3.0, 3.24 million homes.
6. "Hannity & Colmes" (Friday, 9:51 p.m.) (Fox) - 3.0, 3.23 million homes.
7. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Tuesday, 8 p.m.) (Fox) - 2.9, 3.07 million homes.
8. "WWE Raw Zone" (Monday, 10 p.m.) (TNN) - 2.8, 3.04 million homes.
9. "Hannity & Colmes" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.) (Fox) - 2.7, 2.91 million homes.
10. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Friday, 8 p.m.) (Fox) - 2.7, 2.9 million homes.
11. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.) (Nick) - 2.7, 2.89 million homes.
12. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.) (Nick) - 2.7, 2.88 million homes.
13. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.) (TNN) - 2.7, 2.83 million homes.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.) (Nick) - 2.6, 2.8 million homes.
15. Movie: "Helen of Troy, Part 1" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), (USA) - 2.6, 2.8 million homes. Here are the top ten Cable TV shows for the week of August 4-10, according to Neilsen: 1. WWE Entertainment (WWE RAW Zone) TNN - 3.4 (5,269,000)
2. WWE Entertainment (WWE RAW) TNN - 2.9 (4,549,000)
2. Monk (USA) - 2.9 (4,517,000)
4. NFL Pre-Season Football (ESPN) - 2.6 (3,644,000)
4. Fairly Odd Parents (NICK) - 2.6 (3,489,000)
6. SpongeBob (NICK) - 2.5 (3,524,000)
7. Homicide: Life O/T Street (TNT) - 2.4 (3,450,000)
7. SpongeBob (NICK) - 2.4 (3,427,000)
7. SpongeBob (NICK) - 2.3 (3,237,000)
9. Jerry Maguire (S)-8/8/03 (TNT) - 2.3 (3,267,000)
9. Nip Tuck (FX) - 2.3 (3,549,000)
9. Jimmy Neutron (NICK) - 2.3 (3,015,000)
9. Fairly Odd Parents (NICK) - 2.3 (3,511,000)
9. SpongeBob (NICK) - 2.3 (3,381,000)
9. Sunday Movie II (At The Mercy Of A Stranger) (LIF) - 2.3 (2,920,000) Let's contrast those numbers with broadcast TV, for the same week: 1. CSI (CBS) - 9.0 (13,964,000)
2. Law And Order (NBC) - 7.8 (10,357,000)
3. AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game (ABC) - 7.4 (11,053,000)
3. Law And Order: SVU-Tue (NBC) - 7.4 (10,606,000)
3. Without A Trace (CBS) - 7.4 (11,221,000)
6. CSI: Miami (CBS) - 7.3 (10,863,000)
6. Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS) - 7.3 (11,175,000)
8. 60 Minutes (CBS) - 7.2 (10,397,000)
9. King of Queens (CBS) - 6.8 (10,613,000)
10. Who Wants To Marry My Dad? (NBC) - 6.4 (9,245,000) A few observations: April 18 of this year was the day they arrested Scott Peterson for allegedly murdering his wife - which would explain the high ratings for any news outlet on Friday of that week. Note that 5 of the highest-rated Fox shows fell on the day Scott Peterson was arrested - and two of them weren't even featuring Fox personalities, but California law enforcement. Also note that two more of the highest ratings for that week are in the hour of the Peterson story breaking, and both within the same show (Hannity & Colmes, at 9:00 PM and 9:51 PM). Still, on a day when hard news (if you want to call the Peterson case 'hard news') was breaking, the best Fox could manage was a 3.5 rating, with a little over 3 and 3/4 million viewers. Jump ahead to the latest Neilsens. Notice that WWE got a lower rating, while actually attracting more viewers. Notice that You have to go all the way down to #4 in the top ten shows to see a program with similar ratings to Fox's best ratings in the week that my new troll submitted, and that even SpongeBob got nearly as good numbers in that week as Fox got in my new troll's example. Then, move on to the Broadcast TV numbers. Notice that even a lame-assed piece of reality crap like 'Who Wants To Fondle My Dad?' gets nearly 3 times the viewers that Fox's best rating in my new troll's example. What's my point? Only that crowing about how we liberals are only concerned about Fox 'now that they're number one' is a pretty weak argument. Number One, compared to what? CNN and MSNBC? Well, there's a huge surprise. They're only trying to be Fox - and why choose a lame imitation of a slimy 'news' outlet when you can go direct to the original slimy 'news' outlet itself? Then when you look at the numbers which tell you that a cartoon about a sponge gets similar numbers to Fox - and that a piece of broadcast flotsam gets three times the viewers of Fox - you start to realize that blowhards like O'Reilly and the rest of his fellow Fox bloviators are kings of a very small kingdom, indeed.
Replies: 4 people speak up
I think it's so convenient for Fox viewers that Wrestling is on at 10pm, right after O'Reilly & Hannity. Oh, if only they'd put the 700 Club on at 7pm, they'd be in hog heaven. Oh, and once NBC gets wise and puts "Queer Eye" on broadcast TV rather than Bravo, it'll whip their whole lineup.
Posted by Tom Dissento @ 08/13/2003 10:19 PM NY
Suck it, Fox News lovers. Suck it long. And suck it hard.
Posted by Bret @ 08/14/2003 01:48 AM NY
GO SPONGEBOB!
Posted by SpongeSpade HammerPants @ 08/14/2003 03:15 AM NY
do you work?
Posted by meow @ 08/15/2003 01:45 PM NY
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