As Air America Radio, and liberal radio formats bloom, and Rush and O’Leilly slip on radio, reactionary cable news is also showing some dings:
“Now it seems the mighty ship that has been Fox News Channel might be springing a few leaks–and viewers. FNC’s heavy hitters–O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Shepard Smith–all dropped in the coveted 25-to-54 age demographic, according to ratings figures for June and the second quarter of 2005.
The O’Reilly Factor took a dive between last year’s second quarter and the same quarter this year; the host lost about a quarter of his viewers in the age range that advertisers crave. Last year he had 640,000 viewers in the 25-to-54 demographic; the number dropped to 468,000 this April, May, and June. Comparing June 2004 to June 2005, he dropped from 645,000 to 511,000.”
“Sean Hannity in the 9 pm time slot also lost among these viewers. He dropped 20 percent of his 25-to-54 audience in June and 24 percent through the quarter when compared with 2004.
But the biggest loser was Shepard Smith at 7 pm. Comparing the two Junes, Smith’s 25-to-54 viewers went from 514,000 to 348,000. His second-quarter numbers were not so dire, a drop of 29 percent.”
OK, Fox may still be beating the pants off CNN in the teenage idiot and old-fart demographic, ’cause it’s overall numbers are up and double that of CNN. But as it loses those the advertiser drool over, CNN’s numbers for the young, thinking consumer rise.
“But sticking to the 25-to-54 demographic ratings for the second quarter, CNN saw its prime-time shows do better: Paula Zahn’s numbers were up 19 percent, from 165,000 to 196,000; Larry King’s ratings rose 3 percent, from 287,000 to 296,000; and Anderson Cooper’s increased 5 percent, from 158,000 to 166,000.”
Get the good news at:
http://www.washingtonian.com/inwashington/buzz/2005/0708.html
And if you’d like to view my contribution to snarking the neocons on radio, go to:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/13/132541/901
