I have a theory that Fox News’s ratings are tied to the popularity of Der Decider. The American people figure out that George W. Bush is full of shit and an empty suit, and they change their opinion of the talking heads at the FNC too. All that war cheerleading gets pretty tiresome after a while doesn’t it, America? The federal handling of Katrina was a travesty, was it not?
So, I’m not surprised to see Fox News’s ratings have fallen precipitiously over the last year, while CNN and MSNBC have risen.
Fox News’ ratings, TVNewser reports, are down since August of last year. Like, way down. Like down 28 percent in primetime among all viewers, down 20 percent in primetime in the “money demo” (viewers aged 25-54) and down 7 percent in daytime viewership overall. In fact, the only place Fox is up is during the day, when they managed a ratings increase of just 2 percent, and even then only in the money demo.
And lest you think this is an industry-wide trend, consider this: over the same time period, CNN and MSNBC are up. CNN’s up 35 percent during the day — 46 percent in the money demo — and up 21 percent in primetime overall, 25 percent in the money demo. MSNBC’s ratings increases aren’t quite as impressive — up 6 percent in primetime overall, 8 percent in the money demo, and up 36 percent in the money demo during the day, 26 percent overall.
It’s enough to make Arthur Gilroy hopeful. That is, maybe the scales are dropping from America’s eyes? But, just when things are looking up, we have the prospect of Ahmadinejad playing chicken with Dick Cheney. Here’s how David Ignatius puts it:
TEHRAN — Drivers here play a high-risk game of chicken at every intersection. They barge into the frantic stream of traffic and you think there’s going to be a crash for sure. But at the last moment someone usually gives way, and a collision is avoided.
Watching President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a news conference here Tuesday, I had the same mesmerizing anxiety as a passenger in a Tehran taxi…If Ahmadinejad behaves like most local drivers, he will go as far and fast as he can. It’s only when the fender is about to be crushed that he will put on the brake. That’s why this crisis is so dangerous — it’s easy to miscalculate when nobody knows the rules of the road.
I wish Ahmadinejad had a better idea what kind of madmen he is messing with. A lot of innocent people stand to get hurt if he doesn’t apply the brakes. It’s not only Fox News people need to stop listening to. Reckless statesmen and their cheerleaders need to be marginalized all over the globe.
You write:
And lest you think this is an industry-wide trend, consider this: over the same time period, CNN and MSNBC are up. CNN’s up 35 percent during the day — 46 percent in the money demo — and up 21 percent in primetime overall, 25 percent in the money demo. MSNBC’s ratings increases aren’t quite as impressive — up 6 percent in primetime overall, 8 percent in the money demo, and up 36 percent in the money demo during the day, 26 percent overall.
And then you write:
Wellll…not quite.
CNN is just the disinfo arm of another faction of economic imperialists, really.
CNN. The CIA News Network.
Once again…it’s old money vs. new money.
Old line thieves vs. contemporary corporate thieves and the Oil/Israel lobby.
Lamont vs. Lieberman, w/dextrous political hustlers like the Clintons trying to play both ends against the middle and get elected.
“WHAT???” you may ask? Lamont vs. Leiberman??? What ARE you saying here?”
Read it and weep.
Ned’s dad, Ted, the one who worked for Nixon, has not voted Republican since 1988, complaining to the Hartford Courant that “Eastern moderates no longer have a place in the GOP.”
The last sentence says it all.
“Eastern moderates.”
Newspeak for old money.
Neo-speak.
The Neo-Rockefellers vs. The Nouveau (Neo) Riche.
Just as it has always been. (With the exception of the Clinton years, where the aforementioned dextrous hustling of Mr. + Mrs. Clinton successfully walked the line for a quick minute. And JFK’s disastrous two years. Cross EITHER of these two sides at your own peril. Blue dress or Dealy Square, ONE of ’em are going to take you down.)
Kerry vs. Bush.
Gore vs. Bush.
And so on down the line.
Sorry, BooMan.
CNN is just Plan A Lite.
And MSNBC?
Just a red herring thrown at the credulous left.
But I REMAIN “hopeful”.
I hope that I live to see the whole house of cards taken down.
And I hope…no, I believe…that something better will come of it all. Because I believe in evolution.
ALSO on the evidence.
Mine is just a broader definition of the idea “hopeful”, I guess.
Se ya somewhere…
AG
you forgot NEWSTRIKE!!!.
I actually meant to come back at the end and point out that MSNBC and CNN were just more subtle versions of the same thing. I got distracted.
I guess I saved you the trouble.
My pleasure.
As I said in my diary, BooMan…I thought that the “It’s enough to make Arthur Gilroy hopeful.” line was very funny. I actually felt…encouraged by it. It means people are taking me seriously enough to laugh in a good-natured way at my ideas. That’s one hundred times better than much of the bullshit I have gotten elsewhere.
I am up in Maine helping to care for a sick relative for a couple of weeks, and I have LOTS of free time. I am spending much of it surfing, thinking and posting. Not many other responsibilities, so here I am.
See ya…
AG
CNN? Fox? Same game, different sides.
Please post any comments there.
Thanks…
AG
Talking of playing chicken, I was surprised at the lack of comment on Ahmadinejad’s challenging Bush to a debate on basic world issues. This guy might (might) be even more hateful than Rove, but he sure can run circles around him. If you want to stick the knife into US arrogance, how better than to force Bush to chicken out of a debate on policy?
Here’s the 20-pound intellectual runt telling the bully who called him out that he won’t fight because he, um, has better things to do, and besides, you’re dumber:
So Iran’s Rove managed to make everybody in the world imagine Bush debating him, or anybody at all. How better to make us face the fact that the “leader of the free world” is too dumb, too ignorant, too nuts to carry on a coherent discussion with anybody? So I suspect Ahmadinejad has an excellent reading on the kind of madmen he’s messing with. Question is, does the smart madman beat the dumb madman? I fear that may be the case.
Ahmadinejad may not be wondering about the madness of Dick or George — he may be concerned about whether the madness has infected and fully conquered the public, or if there’s still a chance of the citizenry reaching forward and wrenching the wheel violently to the left, to avoid the inevitable impact at the last moment.
I would doubt that anyone at this point in the entire world doubts the intentions of those who are steering.
And Cheney sitting with his foot on the gas pedal, whispering, “come on, come on, come on…”
If CNN and MSNBC are indeed having such wonderful ratintgs, is it not because they have become more and more like FNC. Scarborough, that little dick with the bow tie, Hardball, that new idiot from radio with the salt-n-pepper hair: all the new shows on primetime are moving right, with possible exception of Kieth O. who is MIA.
Is the audience changing or are the messengers?
Ahmadinejad is not the sole authority in Iran and we need to stop going along with the Bush administration’s spin that paints him as the “LEader of Iran” just because he conveniently says controversial things which supposedly “Threaten Israel” (TM).
Remember, when the last Iranian president (Khatami) was in office and was trying to reach out to the US, the Pro-IsraeliNeoCons insisted that Iranian presidents as a whole were nobodies who should be ignored and so the US shouldn’t reciprocate Iranian attempts at reaching a rapprochement.
When Ahmadinejad came along and said controversial things, all of a suddent the status of Iranian presidents was portrayed as “Leader of Iran” – now ask yourself why.
As for playing chicken – the analogy holds only if you assume that both sides aren’t really intended to press their luck. If they are, then if one side gives way the other side merely pushes on. If AN gives way to Cheney, that doesnt mean that Cheney will back off. No, he’ll just press harder.
Bravo to you Boo- your openning post today re thee Iranian game of chicken codifies the whole mess. AND- you openning sentence in the last graf is absolutely magnificent!(as well as the rest of the graf!)
The use of the term-“madman” to describe the real madman is brilliant. Now, are we common folks juiced enuf to take matters into opur cumulative hands and remove all of the garbage deterring us from getting on with the massive job of cleaning up the staggering mess that these pukes have left for us to take care of.
billjpa