Posted on 06/29/2011 6:57:23 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Fox News 3 AM news/comedy show Red Eye just capped its best quarter ever in the 18-34 demographic celebrating its 1,000th program with its highest ratings ever, and beating CNN primetime according to Nielsen. Mediaite caught up with host Greg Gutfeld to chat about this achievement, what it means for the competition, and how to keep viewers glued to the screens (and their Twitter pages) for another 1,000 episodes.
Congratulations on both your 1,000th episode and your best quarter ever in terms of ratings. How do you think the show distinguished itself after so many years on air that its now beating even some primetime shows with some regularity?
It reflects the dedication of the fan. Were asking our fans to jump through a couple of hoops one is the fact that were on pretty late at night and another is that, just to get the humor after the while because its an unusual show. Youve got to get used to it before you like it. We ask a lot of our fans, and we still get better numbers than something thats on at a much more amenable time.
Our podcast is also doing really well. We do it every day and its becoming really popular. We let it loose every afternoon on Twitter so people can find it its usually about 25 minutes. Its something that were trying out and its been real popular, so hopefully well keep doing it.
Do you think the Twitter campaigns have helped? [Redeye fans regularly use Twitter to promote their show, and the #redeye hashtag to converse with each other as the show airs every night]
Weve always been really accessible, fans can contact us and they like using Twitter while watching the show, which is fun, and Ill go on there at the same time and do it myself if I cant sleep or its the weekend. I think its great and also, the viewers know that a lot of the stuff that they said via my website I often use. The way I introduce guests they realize that after 10,000 times of doing that, I need help, so they send me suggestions and I use them. So its one of the few shows probably one of the only shows where the fans actually help write it.
Your ratings are stellar for the 3 A.M. timeslot, but this quarter even beat some primetime shows namely CNNs 8 PM show In the Arena. That show, the Daily News is now speculating that that show (and possibly Eliot Spitzer) could see an exit. Any thoughts on how that came about, or what theyre doing over there that has them on the decline?
To be perfectly honest, its on at a time that Im working, so I never watch it, so I guess Im like the rest of America. But I honestly havent seen the show. I wish him well. Im sure hell find work elsewhere.
So if that show ends, thats one down. Do you have any other primetime shows that youre aiming to beat?
Nah, I dont really have a hitlist of people I want to take down. Im basically lucky I feel like Im lucky to be doing this, so Im not out to get anybody. I prefer to concentrate on our own show in order to make fun of people who deserve to be made fun of, making people think about things a different way. I think the reason why Red Eye is popular is because we question the common assumptions that you find elsewhere. We dont echo the same agreeable beliefs that you find anywhere else and I think thats why people find it refreshing. And when they discover the show, they find it wow, they dont see this anywhere else, and thats what keeps them there. We try to focus on that, not so much the competition.
A thing that a lot of people dont know I certainly didnt know about the show is that mostly its written by just you, Bill and Andy and the gueststheres not a huge writing staff. Do you think thats an advantage in that your team is so small, does it help with the efficiency? Or do you think having a bigger crew behind you would make a difference?
I wouldnt know because this is all Ive had its something that, this is what we were given, and weve made it work. Generally the work is split three ways and we dont have a massive staff, so that forces you to look at things a different way, be more creative, and maybe that helps because it gives us a singular voice that you dont find elsewhere.
Where do you go from here now that youve reached a highest career point this past quarter? How do you keep the audience interested?
Were going to be making a movie Redeye, The Movie and its going to take place on a plane
Is it a horror movie?
Yeah. Its actually going to be an action/suspense movie, probably with Rachel McAdams.
Give him Beck's spot
I agree. Either give him beck’s spot and replay late night, or somehow move around prime time so it is on at 10:00. This would put it in the same slot as some local news and also the whole comedy central Daily Show routine. I know this probably would not work from a business perspective because Greta is so well rated, and I don’t see another way to pack O’Reilly, Hannity, and Greta into the prime hours. In terms of strengthening our side in the ideological battle it would be great.
The high ratings just demonstrate that conservatives are losing sleep over the state of the union, and when they turn on the TV in the middle of the night, Gutfeld is outrageous, hilarious, and surprisingly conservative.
I agree....or - put him on Sunday evening - it's a wasteland there on Sunday evenings.
You can get always Red Eye podcast mini-fixes:
http://feeds.foxnewsradio.com/redeyepodcast
Today the topic was the Glenn Beck incident in the park.
I love comedy and people kept talking about this show. Finally... the insomnia gave me a terrific gift. GET WITH IT FOX. This is a Comedy Central-esque conservative show that needs a better spot.
Although... the lib women will complain about conservative cleavage.
I’d rather watch Gutfeld read the phone book out load than watch Hannity or O’Blowhard discussing ANYTHING.
Seeing who gets the “leg chair” is one of the best parts of the show...
His biggest mistake however was leaving the Late Night show, where he became pretty popular with the college crowd/others(the Tonight Show went in the crapper with the passing of Carson, so it lost it's coveted title years before). Too bad Conan's bloated ego got in his way....and messed up his career choice/path...(well, that and his one-way political bent....again, bad move Coco).
Anyway, with DVR's and such folks watch what they want to watch, when they want to watch it....(are ratings even legitimate anymore?)
That said, hope the Red Eye guys stay on late night...they are better suited there.
It is a good show however....
Not the same thing
Great show and better when Thad McCotter is on. Here’s hoping he announces this week and shakes up a VERY weak Republican field
McCotter is my favorite guest. I dvr Red Eye every night.
Did you see McCotter play the guitar on Huckabee? He’s really good. (I only watched Huck because Thad was on.)
SirKit and I are a little bit outside their target demographic, both of us being 58 this year, but we love the show!
Bump for later
Well, I’m ten years older than you folks and I watch Red Eye every weekday (2 am here). Of course I no longer have to get up at 5:30 to go to work!
The show COULD be moved back one hour to replace the replay of Beck and would probably get even more viewers. The topics and language used would not be suitable for early evening or prime time viewing.
It could certainly be showed at 10 PM or so.
Red Eye is a show that is perfectly pitched to South Park Conservatives/Republican Party Reptiles such as me (sadly we seem to be less well represented on FR these days....)
We DVR it every night, and watch it the following evening. Our college aged kids like it, too.
We DVR it every night, and watch it the following evening. Our college aged kids like it, too.
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