What Cable News Do you Watch?
November 5, 2009
Most Americans watch Fox. Wonder why since they are so bad? Here are the latest ratings from election night:
- FOXNEWS 4,043,000 (1,130,00 25-54)
- MSNBC 974,000 (308,000 25-54)
- Headline News 842,000 (341,00 25-54)
- CNN 826,000 (227,000 25-54)
Interesting Stuff.
My take on Fox News
September 1, 2009
Despite all the hate my friends on the left dish out, FOX News is killing in the ratings game. Specifically, if you compare FOX’s right leaning opinion shows like O’Reilly, Hannity, Beck, Greta, Baier and Shep to the left leaning opinion shows on MSNBC and CNN like Olbermann, King, Maddow, Cooper and Hardball – FOX is REALLY winning. Check out the August numbers:
FOXNEWS O’REILLY 3,440,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,937,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,810,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,450,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,066,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,860,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,114,000
CNN KING 1,063,000
MSNBC MADDOW 885,000
CNN COOPER 827,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 640,000
My friends on the left (you know who you are) constantly point out that FOX News is biased. It is almost a canned answer to anything I post that comes from a FOX source. For example, if I link to an article on FOX News that suggests that it is the coolest summer on record according to the NOAA my leftist friends will immediately point out – “FOX News is biased” and that will be the end of the conversation. They won’t discuss the methods NOAA used to measure the temperature – they don’t think they need to – “FOX is bad” is the only thing they need to know.
My take? FOX News is biased, but no more biased than NBC, CBS or ABC. My friends on the left will now disagree, but I hope they will continue to read my post. For years the news has been reported in a generally neutral way, but from a generally left leaning point of view (POV). NBC, CBS and ABC employed writers, producers and reporters that more often (average 75/25 split) members of the Democratic Party than they are members of the Republican Party. Most NBC, ABC and CBS reporters and producers are attempting to be objective, but their objectivity is colored by their particular point of view (POV). Those of us on the right (about half of the US population) have been bothered by this model and as with most things, the market tends to correct problems.
FOX News was created to offer what they call ‘fair and balanced’ news, but from a right leaning point of view. Most reporters and producers from FOX are attempting to be objective, but their objectivity is colored by their particular point of view (POV). Get it? When someone who is left leaning watches FOX News they are outraged at how biased it is. Why? Because they have never experienced what we on the right have experienced for years. All four major networks ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX attempt to report in a generally neutral way – three from a left-leaning POV and one from a right-leaning POV.
Don’t believe me? Just watch Al Jazeera. Their POV is COMPLETELY different from ours and their model of delivering the news in a ‘generally neutral’ way seems COMPLETELY biased to Americans. Reporting is reporting anywhere in the world, but it is ALWAYS colored by the bias of the producers and reporters making the report.
Lastly, lots of my friends on the left confuse ‘opinion/entertainment shows’ like Olbermann and O’Reilly with news shows. Think of them like sitcoms – they are not news. They don’t pretend to be news. They are left or right wing opinions delivered for entertainment purposes – i.e. to sell ads. Ironically, both my left and right wing friends watch FOX political entertainment programs (as proven by the ratings). Even Howard Stern watches Glenn Beck – he can’t get enough of his antics. I for one, can’t stomach the show.
My hope is that my friends on the left will eventually agree that those of us on the right have a right to our opinions and our biases. We also have the right to have a network that is delivered from our POV – just as they have a right to a network that is delivered from their POV. The market will sort out the rest.
