Free Republic

Before Glenn Beck started his new show on Fox News in January, he sat down with Roger Ailes, the network's chief executive, to make sure they were on the same page. "I wanted to meet with Roger and tell him, 'You may not want to put me on the air. I believe we are in dire trouble, and I will never shut up,' " said the conservative radio host. But before Beck could say anything, Ailes shared a message of his own: The country faced tough times, he said, and Fox News was one of the only news outlets willing...

It’s a nine-percent bump in the two weeks since Anita Dunn’s whine heard ’round the world — in terms of overall audience. Among the coveted 25-54 demographic? A 14-percent bump. Good work, Barry. People keep telling me that this PR offensive by the White House benefits both sides but I don’t see how that’s true. If the goal is to contain Fox by framing the stories it breaks — Van Jones, ACORN, etc — as somehow illegitimate, then every tenth of a point that Fox’s ratings go up undermines that goal. There will come a point where other news nets...

It’s a nine-percent bump in the two weeks since Anita Dunn’s whine heard ’round the world — in terms of overall audience. Among the coveted 25-54 demographic? A 14-percent bump. Good work, Barry. People keep telling me that this PR offensive by the White House benefits both sides but I don’t see how that’s true. If the goal is to contain Fox by framing the stories it breaks — Van Jones, ACORN, etc — as somehow illegitimate, then every tenth of a point that Fox’s ratings go up undermines that goal. There will come a point where other news nets...

CNN’s numbers drop 68% in prime to last place I have been reporting CNN’s bad numbers for some time and now it will be official when the October numbers are in, CNN is in last place behind MSNBC, HLN and you know who.CNN’s numbers have dropped in half overall (52%) and 68% in prime time comparing October 2008 to 2009, TV by the Numbers reported.In the 25-54 demographic, CNN dropped 62% overall and by 77% in prime time.Even the mainstream press is now reporting it. “The official monthly numbers will be finalized at 4 p.m. Monday and will include results...

Last May, I wrote on CNN's ratings troubles in prime-time, after being topped by MSNBC during the hours of 8pm to 11pm. But for the month of October, CNN was beaten by not only MSNBC in the 25-54 demo, but also its sister network, HLN. Fox News remains the dominant cable news network, and will easily hold onto the number 1 spot. The Times Bill Carter reports on the latest numbers, which will be finalized this afternoon. While CNN has lost before to MSNBC and HLN, there are some notable firsts in how poorly some of the network's shows are...

25-54 demographic: Beck 681 O'Reilly 583....Total Viewers: Beck 2620 O'Reilly 2490

The last ratings cycle Monday night, Beck withing less than 200k of O'Reilly and that's at a 5:00p.m. timeslot, MSNBC also continues to lose viewers...

Fox News’ 3amET comedy/news hybrid Red Eye is in a league of its own when it comes to cable news shows. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a player in the ratings. Despite its late (or early, depending on your sleep habits) start time, the ratings for the show continue to improve, and surprisingly, top some cable news competition you might not expect. Last week we were forwarded this message board post on ActivityPit.com – Red Eye’s online community that feeds its dedicated base of fans. Here’s a part: The ratings came out for September and Red Eye is up...

Fox News’ 3amET comedy/news hybrid Red Eye is in a league of its own when it comes to cable news shows. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a player in the ratings. Despite its late (or early, depending on your sleep habits) start time, the ratings for the show continue to improve, and surprisingly, top some cable news competition you might not expect. Last week we were forwarded this message board post on ActivityPit.com – Red Eye’s online community that feeds its dedicated base of fans. Here’s a part: The ratings came out for September and Red Eye is up...

Those with any doubt what a good move it was for Fox News to pick up Glenn Beck look no further than the chart below. His average viewership at 5pm exceeded the combined viewership of his three cable news network competitors every night in September. On six nights he had twice the combined viewership.

Unlike other cable news networks, that have seen their ratings fall since the 2008 Presidential election peak, Fox News 5-11pm viewership (P2+) has trended higher since early summer 2009 and is now near the peak levels set around the election in 2008.

Q3, 2009 vs. 2008, Glenn Beck grows timeslot 89% in total viewers and 136% in the Demo, also Foxnews is widening it's lead over MS-DNC..

Just how far has NBC fallen? The Jay Leno show scored roughly one-third the audience of ABC's or CBS's, but trails even Fox News. Not just Fox, which permits its affiliates to broadcast local programming during the 10 o'clock hour, but Fox News Channel. ABC: Grey's Anatomy (16.5 million) CBS: The Mentalist (14.3 million) Fox News: The O'Reilly Report (5.2 million*) NBC: The Jay Leno Show (5 million) *includes two airings, because Fox News Channel broadcasts simultaneously in all time zones. Now, if Fox News would only put Glenn Beck in Prime Time...

The Scoreboard: Monday, September 21

P2+ Total Day FNC – 1,586,000 viewers CNN – 590,000 viewers MSNBC –454,000 viewers CNBC – 197,000 viewers HLN – 374,000 viewers P2+ Prime Time FNC – 3,238,000viewers CNN— 1,054,000 viewers MSNBC –1,123,000 viewers CNBC – 259,000 viewers HLN – 813,000viewers

Crushing the competition...Fox News had a huge ratings night Wednesday averaging 3.29M Total Viewers and 1.01M in the A25-54 demo in prime (8-11pmET Live +SD).

Numbers released for Monday night.., plus Foxnews #3 on all of cable (that's everything) CNN #26, MS-DNC #21

The 1pmET hour of Glenn Beck's 9/12 special drew 2.34M Total Viewers and 608K in A25-54 demo -- up a whopping 144% in Total Viewers and up 161% in demo viewers from the previous Saturday. The 2pmET hour built on the 1pm hour averaging 2.57M Total Viewers (up 189%) and 708K A25-54 viewers (up 226%). Beck's two hours more than doubled the combined averages, in the demo and Total Viewers, of CNN (201K in demo, 678K Total) and MSNBC (125K in demo, 343K Total) from 1-3pmET Saturday. CNN aired Pres. Obama's speech from Minneapolis from 2:00 to 2:40pmET. MSNBC aired...

Nothing like a boycott to really hurt ratings. Glenn Beck had his highest viewership ever Thursday averaging 3.34M Total Viewers. His was the second-highest rated program in Total Viewers in cable news behind The O'Reilly Factor's 3.61M. And Beck was even bigger with the ad-friendly demo, putting up his second best numbers since the show premiered in January. In A25-54 viewers, Beck was #1 for the day, and remember, his show airs at 5pmET/2pmPT when viewers aren't in front of their TVs like they are at 8, 9 or 10pm. Although, last night many of those primetime viewers were siphoned...

Cable ratings + Network ratings for Obama's partisan speech on Health Care last night...