Comments on: Cable News Ratings for Monday August 11, 2008

By: Tami

Tami — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:39:15 +0000

I don’t get it. I cannot watch FOX…I have tried. The Fox and Friends morning show is so one sided- even with three so called reporters sitting on the couch.

CNN is much more “fair and balanced” and treat ALL guests with respect. I trust their reporting and all thoug you can sometimes see which way the reporter leans they make sure they fair. I dont see this happening on FOX- they don

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:17:45 +0000

Funny how the ‘Mainstream Media’ does not like the fact that Fox has blown away the competition. Its simply due to the fact that they are more centered than any other media station. Thats why they get the higher ratings. Poeple are not dumb and are tired of the left-leaning media’s reporting. When they have an alternative thats more ‘Fair and Balanced’ of course they are going to tune in. CNN has started to adopt some of Fox News methods and they are showing better ratings already. Liberal media continues to report poorly due to their political agendas. Look at the recent demotion of Matthews and Olberman as proof positive evn the worst, MSNBC, has to take a look at why its failing!

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:28:20 +0000

O'Rielly is “Fair and Balanced” . Yes he is more right…but he brings in opposite views and actually debates.

The left wing is so afraid of O' Rielly they have scared Obama from going onto the show…how sad…

By: StephenMartin

StephenMartin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:25:30 +0000

Like I said, I watch all the networks regularly. FOX uses “Fair and Balanced” frequently. I do realize Olbermann is MSNBC's bread and butter. I'm not sure why you're making that an issue. I certainly am not.

And from my observation, and some of the major polls, for the most part, FOX leans right, and the rest lean left. It is my point of view. A view I came to from many years of watching. I'm not going to argue about it, or debate it.

By: Chris Merrill

Chris Merrill — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:19:47 +0000

Fox does still us Fair and Balanced as their slogan. quite a bit actually.
As for Mr. Murdoch. I don't believe he is a hard ideologue so much as a smart businessman. Since the 1970s, there has been a conservative 'industry' of sorts. All the books, radio stations and more recently FNC. Before FNC, there was no big conservative station. He saw a potential demand and filled that need.
The best part is this industry will be around forever because conservatives in government never do what they say they will. Abortion is still legal, No constitutional amendment against same sex marriage and gov't spending is still rising
The liberal 'industry,' is much less viewed. Look at Air America, for example. and Olbermann's ratings, not stellar until he started the whole 'special comment' thing, are still WAY short of O'Reilly.
As for the liberal MSM (interestingly, despite their ratings, FNC does not consider themselves part of the MSM)...please consider the following...
Reporters do tend to be more liberal than the rest of the country. But their editors trend to the right.
Journalists see things that they can't or won't show on TV. When was the last time you saw a full crime scene, with the blood and bodies? Its rare. The Journalist sees it. How many of those would you have to see before you start thinking we need better gun laws? Liberal bias? or just sick of the killing?
Journalists rely on facts. Evolution is a scientifically upheld theory. ID/Creationism...not so much. Yet in coverage, both sides are shown to be equal. Liberal bias there?

By: cornycob

cornycob — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:16:01 +0000

Murdoch does not own any radio stations.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:28:20 +0000

I think Obermann is going to get about as much as he's gotten because he is so far left winged. He doesn't even have debates from what I've seen on his shows because he brings in people that agree with him…

O'Rielly is "Fair and Balanced" . Yes he is more right…but he brings in opposite views and actually debates.

The left wing is so afraid of O' Rielly they have scared Obama from going onto the show…how sad…

By: StephenMartin

StephenMartin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:25:30 +0000

Like I said, I watch all the networks regularly. FOX uses "Fair and Balanced" frequently. I do realize Olbermann is MSNBC's bread and butter. I'm not sure why you're making that an issue. I certainly am not.

And from my observation, and some of the major polls, for the most part, FOX leans right, and the rest lean left. It is my point of view. A view I came to from many years of watching. I'm not going to argue about it, or debate it.

By: Chris Merrill

Chris Merrill — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:19:47 +0000

Fox does still us Fair and Balanced as their slogan. quite a bit actually.
As for Mr. Murdoch. I don't believe he is a hard ideologue so much as a smart businessman. Since the 1970s, there has been a conservative 'industry' of sorts. All the books, radio stations and more recently FNC. Before FNC, there was no big conservative station. He saw a potential demand and filled that need.
The best part is this industry will be around forever because conservatives in government never do what they say they will. Abortion is still legal, No constitutional amendment against same sex marriage and gov't spending is still rising
The liberal 'industry,' is much less viewed. Look at Air America, for example. and Olbermann's ratings, not stellar until he started the whole 'special comment' thing, are still WAY short of O'Reilly.
As for the liberal MSM (interestingly, despite their ratings, FNC does not consider themselves part of the MSM)…please consider the following…
Reporters do tend to be more liberal than the rest of the country. But their editors trend to the right.
Journalists see things that they can't or won't show on TV. When was the last time you saw a full crime scene, with the blood and bodies? Its rare. The Journalist sees it. How many of those would you have to see before you start thinking we need better gun laws? Liberal bias? or just sick of the killing?
Journalists rely on facts. Evolution is a scientifically upheld theory. ID/Creationism…not so much. Yet in coverage, both sides are shown to be equal. Liberal bias there?

By: cornycob

cornycob — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:16:01 +0000

Murdoch does not own any radio stations.

By: i love bush (not the pres)

i love bush (not the pres) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:44:00 +0000

regardless of not allowing opposing views, olbermanns ratings still remain as the higest rated on msnbc, and very high ratings overall compared to other shows. also, most of the media is not liberal.

first of all, HLN, most of their main shows are loud conservatives in beck and grace (she may not talk about politics, but if you listen to her, she seems to have very conservative values and ideologies).

second, fox news is largely conservative, and gets the most ratings than any news channel on tv, so they are watched a lot. the other networks dont get close to that amount because of the strong conservative pov. so to say that most of the media is liberal is ridiculous esp when you look at how much fox is watched. that doesnt mean they are fair, which they arent, but they do control the media in viewership. also consider all the radio stations owned by rupert murdoch… they are mostly conservatives… the hannity’s oreilly;s and limbaugh’s, just to name a few.

By: i love bush (not the pres)

i love bush (not the pres) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:34:22 +0000

you fail to realize that fox news doesnt even use the “fair and balanced” slogan anymore because they are NOT fair and balanced, and arent allowed to use it.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:24:00 +0000

I watch FOX, MSNBC, CNN HEADLINE NEWS, and CNN regularly. The only difference I see in their new presentations is that FOX leans to the right, the rest to the left. They all give pretty good news coverage when special stories present themselves. Other than that, they’re opinion oriented. Arguing happens from time to time on all of the networks, (except for Olbermann. He never has an opposing view or any conflict whatsoever.) Most of the programming on these networks revolve around politics and celebrity gossip. And they do it for the ratings. Making money is why they’re in business. No other reason. The journalists and commentators may have other motives, but the owners are doing it to make money, plain and simple. They are business peopleand that’s all they are. That’s my take.

By: Chris Merrill

Chris Merrill — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:07:00 +0000

I’m not just applying that to FNC. Is MSNBC The place for politics when, for the next 2 weeks they are an Olympic channel for the entire day?

By: Chris Merrill

Chris Merrill — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:05:00 +0000

I watch most of the cable and digital cable news networks (FNC, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Bloomberg and FBN). I’ll admit I do have my favorites, and FNC and FBN aren’t them.
My taste in news is, apparently, rare or at least uncommon. I like international stories that aren’t directly tied to “Elected official(s) visits ____,” Anchor banter drives me up a wall, celebrity gossip is NOT news. Unfourtunately, all news networks fail there.
I also watch skeptically, trying to analyze each point that is brought up and comparing it to what I know. It could be an observer’s bias, but I find myself mentally screaming (not just disagreeing with, but truly angry at) FNC and FBC more than the others.
Any organization that must constantly defend claims it makes about its product (yes, news IS a product) is doing something wrong.
Imagine of Merck came out with a drug that, they claim, cured whatever. Would you believe them if every week (or day, or hour) they had to issue a new statement re-affirming that this drug, indeed cured the disease?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:27:00 +0000

<<<>>

Just curious. Do you watch FOX on a regular basis?

By: StephenMartin

StephenMartin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:46:44 +0000

Wonder where all those Olbermann fans went for those few days. ummmmm. Interesting.

By: Chris Merrill

Chris Merrill — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:32:00 +0000

Not only did Olbermann come roaring back, I don’t think I’ve seen Verdict’s numbers that high in a while…
Pockafella – you have just opened up a can of worms. I’m going to avoid starting the flame war and just give you two things to think about.
1) No news organization or reporter is completely fair and balanced. Even the best come up short.
2) Slogans are wonderful ways to communicate something that isn’t obvious or even an outright lie.
The fact that you used two democrats to prop up your argument is rather telling. Its shocking to see Democrats say stuff like that. Republicans, not so much
While I do believe that some FNC bashing is related to the fact that they are #1, others are legitimate complaints.
I honestly hope the other networks don’t adopt FNC’s tactics. They are chugging along, making profits for their parent companies and gaining in viewership. American news doesn’t need more fluff and anger. It needs more news.

By: pockafella

pockafella — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:51:11 +0000

Go fox. Continuously being “fair and balanced” as both Hillary Clinton campaign chairman and Gov. Ed Rendell stated. Other news programs (MSNBC = crazy people ) should try and adopt the same tactics and maybe then they would also get good ratings and start being competitors!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:56:00 +0000

Looks like Olbermann numbers bounced back a bit. Looks like the Olympics have helped MSNBC’s numbers.