Posted on 03/03/2005 3:46:38 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets
CNN posted steep viewer losses during the month of February, slipping 21% in primetime and 16% overall, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox News was the only cable news network to see gains in primetime during February and beat all other cable news outlets combined for the sixth straight month.
FNC averaged 1.57 million viewers in primetime, up 18% from the same period last year, while CNN fell 21% to 637,000 viewers from the same time period.
February marked what has been a rocky three months for new CNN U.S. prexyprexy Jonathan Klein, who came to the network hoping to improve CNN's primetime performance, where it has been most hurt by a strong FNC lineup built around tentpole "The O'Reilly Factor."
CNN endured a thrashing by Fox during the State of the Union Address, and even lost in the key 25-54 demographic to third-place MSNBC during the speech.
Primetime tumble
CNN primetime stalwarts "Larry King Live," "Wolf Blitzer Reports," "Lou Dobbs Tonight," "Paula Zahn Now" and "Newsnight With Aaron Brown" all suffered double-digit declines, while "Anderson Cooper 360" was up slightly, by 2%.
Klein replaced the executive producer of "Aaron Brown" in a bid to make the show more competitive against "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren," which was up 37% for the month.
Joyous over CNN's February perfperf, Fox staffers began referring to the CNN prexy as "Jon De-cline."
FNC had primetime increases across the board, led by Van Susteren at 10 p.m., "Hannity & Colmes" up 19%, and "Special Report With Brit Hume" rising 20%. "O'Reilly Factor," cable news' most-watched program, with 2.4 million viewers, was up 9%.
MSNBC declined 15% overall and 14% in primetime, while financial news channel CNBC declined 23% overall
I'm in Pajamahedien cheapshot Shadenfreude Vallhalla. (I don't just mix metaphors, I mate them.)
Bravo, sir, bravo. That's Quote of the Week material there.
That is really fascinating. I knew Fox was beating CNN in the ratings, but I had no idea it was nearly a 3-1 margin.
At what point does the profit motive take over the ideological one? There's clearly more ad money to be made by being smarmy pro-American, as opposed to smarmy internationalist. At some point, even ideology will be displaced by people who can deliver more bang for the advertising dollar.
CNN is a niche market network, like the Fishing Channel. Their niche is sneering graying boomer hippie wannabees. Truly the Clinton News Network.
are these new words? what gives?
"Wall Street Lays an Egg" - Variety likes to think of itself as "sassy".
When you have the host of a show (Larry King) ask a man who had been in a coma for weeks, "What was it like to be in a coma?" You know you have problems.
duplicate thread: Please check before posting
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1354287/posts
You can tell who's having the most fun at the cable nets when they give the Fox comments through their spokeswoman too. My favorite, addressed to Ted Turner after his "Fox is Hitler" rant, "Ted has lost his ratings, lost his network and now he's lost his mind!" I hope someone is keeping a record of these bon mots.
"At what point does the profit motive take over the ideological one?"
That's a question that you'll have to ask Ted.
Why Variety is using slanguage in their published articles? Probably to appear trendy.
No, Ted's not the point. He may be willing to die penniless in the street rather than abandon his extreme globalist dogma, but he's just one guy.
It's just like U.S. automakers putting out low quality cars back in the day, and being surpassed by the Japanese. At some point, you will either let go of your deep commitment to put out a low quality product, or you'll be eaten alive by new upstarts that don't have your emotional baggage.
News is a business, just like anything else. The MSM can't sustain losses like this indefinitely. With Fox cutting into their ratings, and bloggers cutting into their credibility, the MSM is being slowly and steadily attrited out of business.
you mean kinda like 'bling-bling'? gotcha
Word, homey. Mo schizzle fo mah nizzle.
Sniff Doggy Poop! You're a Freeper!
Where's Connie Chung when you need her?
"No, Ted's not the point. He may be willing to die penniless in the street rather than abandon his extreme globalist dogma, but he's just one guy."
IT depends on how much of CNN Ted owns. If he's just a large shareholder, I would agree with your analysis. If he is a holder of > 51% Ideology may reule the decisions made.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.