CNN in third place in prime time
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| Fri, 03-27-2009 - 9:43pm |
Like newspapers, CNN seems to be having difficulty adapting. It was the pioneer news channel. Now it seems to be faltering.
The ratings for prime time cable news programs follow taken from the Drudgereport, after that is a link and news story about CNN and it's ratings.
CABLE NEWS RACE
THU., MARCH 26, 2009
FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,420,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,987,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,374,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,160,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 1,940,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,888,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,322,000
CNNHN GRACE 1,300,000
MSNBC MADDOW 1,208,000
CNN KING 1,144,000
CNN COOPER 1,118,000
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jeEr_9iwtdieF9FQS0td-iGANTgQD976K4IG2
CNN in third place in prime time for first time
CNN is poised to finish March third in the prime-time weeknight ratings behind Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the first time this has ever happened for the channel that pioneered the cable news genre nearly three decades ago.
CNN says its overall business is healthy and it is not straying from its straight news path. But it is suffering more audience erosion than its rivals since the peak days of the presidential election, further proof that the opinionated prime-time shows on Fox and MSNBC have greater audience loyalty.
CNN's weekday prime-time ratings are relatively flat compared to last year during the primary campaign, up 1 percent from March 2008, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox's ratings have jumped 30 percent and MSNBC, the new No. 2, is up 24 percent. The biggest growth in cable news is for CNN's partner, Headline News, which is up 62 percent.
Fox remains on a mountain above its two closest competitors, with its prime-time audience in March more than that of MSNBC and CNN combined. "The O'Reilly Factor" has done particularly well, keeping more of its postelection audience than anything else on CNN and MSNBC.
Through Wednesday, Fox was averaging 2.73 million prime-time viewers in March. MSNBC had 1.16 million and CNN had 1.14 million. The March ratings period ends Friday, and it's doubtful CNN will be able to overcome MSNBC.
"The fact that one network may have eked out a slight edge in one small slice of the overall business really doesn't say much of anything," Jon Klein, CNN U.S. president, said on Friday. "It's more clear than ever, given the way that our competitors have positioned themselves, that CNN has positioned itself as the real news network."
Relying on news, rather than opinion, leaves CNN more susceptible to higher ratings peaks during big stories and lower valleys in routine times. Yet it's hard to consider the present — new president, economic turmoil and two wars — a slow news period.
CNN's ratings news "is very significant," said Frank Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief and now a professor at George Washington University. "This is a big problem."
More significant is what CNN's ratings problems mean coupled with the daily drumbeat of layoffs in the newspaper industry, he said. With people more interested in hearing things through an ideological prism as a form of entertainment, it diminishes the value of independent voices giving straight news.
"It's getting harder to do real journalism on television," Sesno said. "This is `man the ideological barricades.'"
Fox is ready to start a new venture Monday, "The Fox Nation," which it bills as an online community that believes in "your right to express your views, your values, your voice." Fox representatives would not immediately return a call for comment.
The most problematic part of CNN's prime-time schedule is Campbell Brown's 8 p.m. show, up against O'Reilly and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. Brown's audience is smaller than any prime-time show on the three networks, and beneath Nancy Grace's crime hour on Headline News.
Brown leaves for a six-to-eight week maternity leave following Friday's show, and will be replaced temporarily by Roland Martin. Klein said Brown's show isn't in any danger, noting that it took years for Olbermann and O'Reilly to build their audiences and Brown has been in her job for a year.
There's been no talk of moving Grace to CNN, he said. Having Grace's crime-oriented show on Headline News allows CNN to keep its focus on being a news network, he said.
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow is a close third to Larry King, and both are beaten handily by Sean Hannity's new Fox solo show. At the 10 p.m. hour, a rerun of the show Olbermann did two hours earlier has been doing surprisingly well against CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," leading MSNBC to at least temporarily put on hold any development of a new live show then.
MSNBC chief executive Phil Griffin said the prime-time ratings are an affirmation of the network's decision to go liberal with Olbermann and Maddow. But he also said it pointed to problems at his rival.
"They've got the best brand in news," he said. "CNN, that's better than anybody. But you've got to deliver on that — and they're not. It's a hollow promise."
He compared CNN to ESPN, which started at the same time, saying that, while ESPN has evolved aggressively and remained the leader in sports, CNN hasn't. Their evening lineup of Lou Dobbs, Brown, King and Cooper lacks any consistency or flow, he said.
"What do they stand for?" he said. "That's their biggest challenge. CNN ain't what it used to be, and that has given us an opening because we stand for something and they don't."
Klein dismissed Griffin, noting CNN is beating MSNBC handily when the full day — not just prime-time — is taken into account. He said that for March and the year's first three months, it was CNN's best showing since 2003, when the Iraq War started.
CNN continues to have a greater reach and reputation than its rivals across all platforms, he said.
"When you have other so-called news networks ceding the field of journalism, we are happy to fill that void," Klein said. "It's working for us."

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I rarely watch CNN unless they have a special with Christian Amanpour. Fareed Zakaria's interviews are interesting.
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/fareed.zakaria.gps/ I'll record them then watch at my leisure. I can't stand Wolfe Blitzer's monotone.
I flip around in the early morning between BBCAmerica news, CSpan & Moring Joe.
I never watch Fox news. (It's a Murdoch 'thing'.)
CNN: Victim of Ideology, or It's Own Shortcomings?
Article & video.......
http://weblogs.variety.com/bltv/2009/03/cnn-victim-of-ideology-or-incompetence.html
The ratings gains by Fox News Channel and MSNBC -- coupled with the declines during the first quarter for CNN -- could lead to various conclusions. The most obvious one is that with a new Democratic administration and an extremely polarized cable news audience, viewers are gravitating toward their ideological comfort zones. So conservatives are taking solace in the "Obama is a socialist" rantings of Fox's Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, while liberals cozy up to Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. CNN -- trying to stay down the middle -- thus becomes the odd network out.
There is certainly some underlying truth to this, but I wouldn't overlook CNN's own missteps in contributing to its ratings woes. (To be fair, the year-to-year comparisons are skewed by election coverage in first-quarter '08, but there's no denying that CNN's competitive standing has slipped.)
Most of the thoughts that instantly come to mind regarding CNN in the last year are all of the sniggering variety, many having to do with the gratuitous use of technological toys that did more to obscure than illuminate its coverage. From holograms on election night to fever bars crawling across the screen during debates to the "Word Cloud" plucking terms out of President Obama's speech to the aerial (or was that satellite?) shot of the inauguration, the network forever seems to be planting a big "kick me" target on its back, making life too easy for the writers on "The Daily Show." As one critic put it, the latest stunt, "word cloud," looked like "Your brain on CNN." I was thinking more "Schoolhouse Rock."
The shame of it is that CNN should be -- needs to be -- better. With Fox veering harder right and MSNBC finally gaining traction as a progressive counterweight, there's a genuine need for serious reporting -- beyond the confines of "Frontline" and PBS -- that goes beyond just people in a studio spraying out their opinions. CNN could distinguish itself as the news counterpoint to the talkradio that its competitors are becoming, and it only has to attract a few million viewers hungry for that to become a rousing success. But first, it has to get smarter -- and stop futilely hoping that gizmos are going to be its salvation.
Instead, we get Wolf Blitzer and John King explaining the joys of "word cloud." "Some may find it cool, some may find it confusing," King began, leaving out the obvious -- namely, "And some may find it completely ridiculous."
For his part, Anderson Cooper fidgeted uncomfortably, as if he's somehow above all the nonsense. Sorry, A.C., but from my 360-degree view, the whole network is up to its ankles in it, and it's time to start shoveling.
No Peabody Awards For Fox News? But They’re #1 In Cable News!
http://www.newshounds.us/2009/04/02/no_peabody_awards_for_fox_news_but_theyre_1_in_cable_news.php
While media ratings are important for advertising revenue, they don’t necessarily imply quality. Compare any program on NPR with the highly rated Fox&Friends and you know what I’m talking about. Thus, we have Fox News, ”real journalism, fair and balanced,” being #1 in cable news while not receiving any awards from an organization that values real journalism. It’s also funny that the Fox apologists, when faced with the evidence of Fox partisanship and right wing demagoguery (Beck, O’Reilly, Hannity, Fox&Friends), claim that these right wing talking sockpuppets are “conservative commentators” and, thus, not subject to the proper protocol for “real” journalism – which is how Fox defines itself. So, the lack of a Peabody Award might be because the Peabody people don’t value what Fox presents as “real journalism, fair and balanced.” Ya think?!
First, let’s dispense with the notion that the shows are “commentary” shows and not connected to journalism. While the Fox apologists might say so, that’s not how the journalistic community views them because the reports about the ratings talk about Fox News programming as news -with no exceptions for any programs which might be viewed as anything other than news. Real Clear Politics has this to say about the “big three” conservative “commentators:” The article, “Fox News Continues Reign with Big Three” begins with "Led by the trio of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and newcomer Glenn Beck, Fox News maintained its hold as the leading cable news…O'Reilly celebrated his 100th consecutive month as the leading cable news program…” (Bill O’Reilly’s news – for whom, the brain dead?) And we have this about Glenn Beck: “Glenn Beck has top cable news show Website last week.” (Glenn Beck news – for whom, those with paranoid personality disorders?) In other words, say what you want, the Fox shoutfests are considered “news” shows.
Second, let’s talk about the Peabody Awards – which Bill O’Reilly didn’t receive despite what the Paris Business Review said. I went back to 2000 and scanned the list of Peabody Awards and could find nary a one for Fox News. The Fox TV Network got one for “House.” According to Peabody Director Horace Newcomb, “this year's winners reflect new ways to distribute information, as well as diversity of content and genre...” (Comment: Well, golly gosh gee wiz, if “Lost” can get a Peabody, why not Glenn Beck?) The winners, this year, include NBC’s (They’re out to get Bill O’Reilly) Richard Engle’s “Tip of the Spear” which was about the conflict in Afghanistan. (Now, why won’t they give an award to Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity for their Middle East on site reporting – oh, wait a minute, they haven’t done any!) CNN won an award for their coverage of the primaries. Washington Week in Review, moderated by the fabulous Gwen Ifill won an award. (What, no award for the fabulous – just kidding - Brit Hume?) I say good for Gwen, especially after the right wing tried to trash her for having, as Fox News’ Juan Williams said, a “perception problem.” The HBO biopic “John Adams” also received the prize. (If Fox did biopics, what would they do? MLK as a radical communist, Augusto Pinochet as a humanitarian, Phyllis Schlafly as an advocate for women’s rights?) PBS did a documentary on “Depression, Out of the Shadows.” (If Fox had done it, the title would have been “Depression – quite your bitching”) Bill O’Reilly will be upset that the NY Times won an award. HBO got an award for a documentary on the Cristo “Gates” exhibit in Central Park. (If Fox covered art, it would geared towards Hallmark Cards as great American art or Michelangelo as offensive to family values.) Documentaries on Fox seem to be either right wing films, from dubious sources, like the be scared of Muslims documentary “Obsession,” suck up pieces like Bret Baier’s infomercial on Don Rumsfeld.
Fox doesn’t really fit well into the Peabody Award criterion because their way of distributing information is in keeping with the Joe McCarthy methodology and that’s old school. And a network that is geared to white, Christian, right wing conservatives can’t do much with diversity of content. Presenting lies as facts in order to promote a right wing agenda while bashing liberals, democrats, immigrants, Islam, minorities, gays, etc, doesn’t seem to fit the Peabody’s mission which is to “recognize the most outstanding achievements in electronic media…The Award is determined by one criterion – ‘Excellence’...” But Fox “News” is #1 in cable ratings so it’s all good. I’m sure that Fox’s reality challenged audience thinks that the Peabody, like the Nobel, is a left wing, commie plot. Fox leads in cable “news” – but in “excellence,” not so much. Ya think?! And if SNL can win a Peabody for comedy, why can’t Fox News as its entire programming is a joke!
I interpret this as a demonstration of liberal bias by the media. Fox News is certainly professional. Currently Fox won a freedom of information request which Bloomberg lost. Fox is reviewing stuff nobody else has about the bailout and TARP in particular.
I believe Fox News policy is to have as many liberals as conservatives on it's programs whenever possible. Fox News is about the only network to offer this service.
A Proud Grandma
"Worrying is the same thing as banging your head
against the wall. It only feels good when you stop."
— John Powers: Author and motivational speaker
A Proud Grandma
"Worrying is the same thing as banging your head
against the wall. It only feels good when you stop."
—
I think many people have accepted liberal bias in news as "normal". When a news channel like Fox comes along and gives conservatives and liberals equal time, it is considered unfair.
:(
A Proud Grandma
"Worrying is the same thing as banging your head
against the wall. It only feels good when you stop."
—
Not having cable, I don't watch any 'cable news'!
Do you have any specific examples where liberals and conservatives are given equal time? From what I have been able to gather, Fox has a preponderance of conservative commentators; people like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly. Not a liberal in the lot!
"Glenn Beck, who graced the cover of The New York Times on Monday, teased Friday’s episode of his increasingly popular new Fox News show with images of Stalin, Lenin and Hitler, while telling audiences on Wednesday’s show that he was wrong to have said the Obama administration is leading America to socialism — it’s actually fascism."
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“Words like "socialism," "fascism" are pretty wild and don’t really have much of place in discourse unless you’re bringing up those words in order to dismiss them,” said Krauthammer, adding that in his view Obama is “making the case for an American-style social democracy, not socialism.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20888.html
Jabberwocka
A Proud Grandma
"Worrying is the same thing as banging your head
against the wall. It only feels good when you stop."
—
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