It’s your move Mr. Olbermann….
Newshounds notes that Bill O’Reilly fired back at Keith Olbermann last night. As usual, O’Reilly’s response was to attack NBC without mentioning Olbermann by name. However a new twist was added by including NBC President Jeff Zucker. Previously Bob Wright had been the only person O’Reilly had mentioned by name so yesterday’s inclusion of Jeff Zucker should be interpreted as a wratcheting up of O’Reilly’s rhetoric…
MSNBC has been advertising as if Countdown and Hardball were the leaders in cable news. Of course they’re just playing with statistics - when a program has low ratings to begin with, any growth in the number of people watching will look like a significant percentage increase.
O’Reilly was just stating that his program was still #1 in all of cable, and that MSNBC is still last. He was just stating an incontrovertible fact, maybe just trying to clear up any statements made by MSNBC that would lead viewers to believe that they are the leaders in cable news.
Comment by Missy — March 1, 2006 @ 10:41 am
“He was just stating an incontrovertible fact, maybe just trying to clear up any statements made by MSNBC that would lead viewers to believe that they are the leaders in cable news.”
It all depends on what criteria you use to define the word leader. Ratings leader? Truth leader? First with news leader? Honesty leader? There’s lots of leaders to choose from. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t ratings leader though. MSNBC knows better…
Comment by Spud — March 1, 2006 @ 10:54 am
I think Bill’s empire is on shakey ground. Too many theatrics are causing him to seem less credible. Believe it or not,he used to be “my man”. I hear his next offering will be “Boogie With Bill to the Oldies”. (Oddly enough,only hot babes need apply.) Bill has been accused of being quite the rascal, you may recall. Oops…that’s just the left leaning, bomb throwing, idealogue in me slipping out against the, ever misunderstood and persecuted Bill. But he cares not a hoot, for he’s highly above it all in Bloviation-ville. Just ask him.
Comment by Roger C. — March 1, 2006 @ 11:25 am
Spud, the Newshounds item is about ratings, the MSNBC commercials I refer to are about ratings and O’Reilly’s retort last night was about ratings. It sounds as if you haven’t yet seen the MSNBC commercials. Matthews is featured in one; Olbermann in the other. They are talking about their increase in viewership (due to the Olympics, I presume).
If truth or honesty is to be measured, then I at least give Matthews and O’Reilly credit for featuring guests who present more than one side of an argument. Besides Pat Buchanan, has Olbermann EVER had a conservative appear on his program?
Comment by Missy — March 1, 2006 @ 11:43 am
O’Reilly and Olbermann are both a joke at this point. The way O’Reilly has to constantly plug his numbers is the equivalent of Oprah going on air everyday and making sure the public knows her show is bigger than Tyra Banks’!
Comment by Christine — March 1, 2006 @ 12:20 pm
“Spud, the Newshounds item is about ratings, the MSNBC commercials I refer to are about ratings”
Then you should have put the word “ratings” in front of “leader” when you made that statement Missy. You didn’t do that. You left the door open for speculation about what your point was.
In any case the MSNBC ads don’t say they are the ratings leader.They talk about gains they have made but don’t come out and say they are the ratings leader. That would open them up to one heck of a lawsuit.
Comment by Spud — March 1, 2006 @ 12:31 pm
I’m so sick of both of them. Lock them in a room together and let them fight to the death.
Comment by OverHere — March 1, 2006 @ 2:00 pm
Bill’s day is coming. He will be at the wrong place at the wrong time….and BAM….he’ll be history. Sometimes I really wonder how people can watch that program. Just a bunch whining…..I bet his viewers are the ones keeping Kleenex in business.
Comment by Dude — March 1, 2006 @ 2:54 pm
I agree with OverHere. I’ve had it with their bickering. I’ve reached the point where I have stopped watching Countdown because of it. I couldn’t care less about this childish spat.
Comment by Goldfish — March 1, 2006 @ 7:40 pm
I actually caught the MRIOTD and thought that BOR was stating what we all know……His show and the Fox shows as a whole continue to dominate the cable news business…He of course put his spin on it my stating the percentages by which Fox beats the competitors. But hey, what business wont emphasis the positives?
Comment by JR — March 1, 2006 @ 8:21 pm
If Bill wanted to tell the WHOLE truth, he’d have to admit two things:
1. he doesn’t have the best news show on TV just because of his ratings (any more than McDonald’s has the best food just because a lot of people eat there)
2. it’s very easy to get high ratings with his kind of fodder. People like being told that the problems of the world were all caused by somebody other than them.
Time to grow up, Falafel-Boy.
Comment by tanne — March 2, 2006 @ 7:20 am