Is that the death knell I hear for neocon blather?
“O’Reilly continues to hemorrhage viewers month-over-month since October.” Here are the monthly averages:
October: 3,166,000 / November: 3,080,000 / December: 2,610,000 / January: 2,478,000 / February: 2,391,000 / March: 2,320,000 / April: 2,178,000 / May-to-date: 2,096,000
mediabistro.com
That’s over a million fewer viewers in six months!
And it can’t be blamed on after-the-elections droop, since another TV analyst claimed that other shows have bounced back since then (can’t find that link, sorry, but I read it this morning.)
And by the by, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show’s ratings are hard on the heels of both O’Reilly and Hannity. And The Daily Show’s ratings are 24 times that of Dennis Miller!
Meanwhile, Limbaugh’s listeners have dropped in New York by 20%, and Air America Radio is seen as the savior of radio in general because it’s set off a rise in progressive talk across country that’s attracting a younger, hipper — and growing — audience.
While neocon’s blather is either turning viewers and listeners off, or their ossified conservatives listeners are succumbing to senile dementia and dying off.
As Time Magazine put it, even Clear Channel is “picking up “progressive radio” because this is the fastest growing format in the country; and that is because Air America has proved it attracts listeners and advertisers. From an original audience of 120,000, the network more than tripled to 400,000 within three months, and now, according to the latest Arbitron ratings, reaches 2.137 million listeners a week, with 129,900 tuning in for the average quarter hour. Now and again, at least in New York City, Franken’s midday show has out-pulled his right-wing nemesis Bill O’Reilly’s; Randi Rhodes has lured more listeners than Hannity; Garofalo and Seder topped the rabid Michael Savage.”
“And, as Carolina Miranda reported for an item I wrote in the Apr. 4 issue of TIME, AAR is enjoying monthly double-digit ballooning in ad sales revenue.”
“Commercials for national brands like Geico and Volkswagen can now be heard along with spots for Verbal Advantage vocabulary builders (one of Limbaugh’s early sponsors.”
Money talks, and it’s talking progressively louder especially to the age group advertisers pant after (and political parties should, too):
“The average talk-radio listener is 60 years old, but the average Air America listener is 48,” Sinton told Carolina, adding that during nighttime programming, “in a format that is generally two-thirds male and one third female, Air America is 52/48. We are almost precisely evenly balanced between men and women.”
And take that Limbaugh!:
“A study issued last month by the consulting firm Paragon Media Strategies indicates that Limbaugh’s is the name most familiar to talk radio listeners, followed by — drum roll, please –Al Franken.”
Yippee Ki Yi Yay, Motherfuckers