Q2 Numbers: Countdown
Countdown with Keith Olbermann had and up or down Q2 depending on whether you follow the glass half full or glass half empty rule.
On the glass half full side, as TVNewser notes today, Countdown beat Paula Zahn Now for the second quarter in a row in the coveted 25-54 Demo.
On the glass half empty side, this was the 3rd month in a row that Countdown’s numbers dropped. Countdown has dropped 17% in the Demo and 19% in Total Viewers since April as the following two charts illustrate.
It’s hard to speculate on the reasons for the decline but I have noticed that Bill O’Reilly is not responding to Olbermann’s taunts these days. It’s hard to carry on a feud if the other side goes all quiet. More importantly in Countdown’s case, it may be harder to maintain ratings momentum based on a feud if the feud peters out in the viewers’ minds. And the conventional wisdom has been that Olbermann’s success earlier in the year has been due at least in part to his entertaining war with O’Reilly. I would say more but it has only been three months and I want more data before I start really laying the decline of Olbermann’s ratings on the feud having petered out.
Olbermann’s show has grown sadly, tired and stale. The same guests, the same subjects, the same targets. No wonder the ratings are down.
Comment by MGM — June 27, 2006 @ 6:35 pm
Or how about when summer approaches ratings typically are lower than in the spring and winter. The question should be is Countdown doing better at this time, this year, versus last year. The answer to that is yes.
Comment by BlogThat — June 27, 2006 @ 6:37 pm
But it won’t keep going up year to year if it keeps going down month to month.
Comment by Spud — June 27, 2006 @ 6:43 pm
Good point, Spud. It’s not good news for Keith.
Comment by Real Thing — June 27, 2006 @ 6:51 pm
Taking the lowest ratings from May and the highest from April isn’t the way to represent a credible comparisson.
Comment by Nonfactor — June 27, 2006 @ 7:01 pm
That’s what you call the BOR Affect. Time to start up another feud. If he goes after Opra, imagine the possiblities hahahaha.
Comment by Lurker — June 27, 2006 @ 7:06 pm
A 17% (or 19%) drop is significant, particularly when you don’t have that many viewers to begin with!
Comment by Billy — June 27, 2006 @ 7:20 pm
Well, I expect this will be the opportunity for all the Olbermann haters to come in and start writing his obituary. Once again, I think you guys are engaging in premature jocularity.
Sure, the O’Reilly feud may get some people who like noise and fun into the tent…but if nothing much seems to be happening there, those folks will go away. However, it has also likely attracted some people who initially came for that but stayed once they found they liked the overall tone of the show. So it’s a combination of temporary gains of some audience members with a permanent gain of some others.
Only Olbermann’s enemies, like MGM, think the show is “sadly” (yeah, right!) “tired and stale.” The fans think the criticism of it is tired and stale.
Comment by tanne — June 27, 2006 @ 7:21 pm
No comments on Olbermann, but I’m just glad that Brian S. isn’t a math major. His whole basis for arguing that Keith is succeeding is that he’s beating Paula Zahn in the “demo”. He then mentions that O’Reilly’s ratings are declining from last quarter. But wait a minute - so are Keith’s! How on earth did Newser happen to leave out that fact?
Talk about apples & oranges…
Comment by Missy — June 27, 2006 @ 7:45 pm
Spud, KO is going to send you a nasty e-mail over this blog post.
Comment by Goldfish — June 27, 2006 @ 8:42 pm
Sorry to burst Tanne’s bubble but I don’t hate him. I do hate what the show has become though. It was originally creative, had wit, intelligence, and seemed to offer diverse views without yelling that is so typical of other shows. And it’s just not there anymore. I’m not sure if he’s bored or if he’s writing less of the show but it just sucks, blows, and generally stinks these days. If I’ve grown tired of it for these reasons, I’m sure others have as well, thereby explaining the ratings decline. He’s only doing better in comparison to Zahn because Zahn is doing so badly.
Comment by MGM — June 27, 2006 @ 8:55 pm
Don’t worry, MGM (or should I say, “sorry to burst your bubble”), but while you are entitled to your opinion, I disagree. I don’t see the least amount of boredom on Olbermann’s part, and it doesn’t appear to me that he’s writing any less of the show than before to me.
Comment by tanne — June 28, 2006 @ 6:59 am
That’s because you believe he’s perfect and can do no wrong. You’re blinded by fandom and can’t see what’s on prominent display for the rest of us: the show just isn’t as good as it used to be. He’s given up on his blog, he recycles bits from his radio show to use on Countdown, he has the same guests on over and over and over again, there’s never a contrary opinion to be heard on that show, and how many times exactly can they recycle video pieces that have not only aired on NBC and MSNBC but on Countdown too? It’s just stale and tired and the creative spark seems to be gone. I used to regularly watch the program–now it’s just sounds like “blah blah blah blah” to me, as if it’s on some sort of sound track being played over and over again.
Comment by MGM — June 28, 2006 @ 9:48 am
Finally! Someone takes a fair look at Countdown’s ratings. By reading TVNewser, you would think the show is #1!
Comment by Jimmy — June 28, 2006 @ 9:58 am
Ratings on cable news are “news driven” so looking at the ratings for a particular show, in isolation, over a brief period of time (3 months) is not a reliable indicator of a trend. If you were to step back you would see that there have been “news driven” spikes in KO’s ratings ever since he has been on the air. The numbers in April include some news driven spikes that pushed Countdown to 600,000 viewers (twice I believe). More to the point, the April numbers were impacted by a coordinated campaign among left-wing bloggers, groups like MoveOn.org and KO’ fans among newspaper’s TV critics to encourage readers/members to watch Countdown. Apparently they did tune in but have since tuned out.
Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble but I do not believe what you are seeing is a decline but rather a settling back in to the “normal range” for Countdown. A more accurate picture of the show can be gleaned by looking at the quarterly numbers since the show launched in 2003. They show a steady, (very) modest growth in the ratings for the show - adding less than 7,000 new viewers per month since the month after the 2004 election.
As far as TVN hyping Olbermann by playing fast and loose with the ratings data - what else is new!
Comment by Robert Cox — June 28, 2006 @ 11:56 am
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I work in cable news and I do think this is a trend, a downward ratings trend for Olbermann. A big one. But I’m sure he’ll soon start picking fights to get more viewers. Does anyone else get tired of this trend?
Comment by Chris — June 28, 2006 @ 4:36 pm
Did the guy who made this chart purposefully take the highest ratings from April and the Lowest from June?
Comment by Clay — June 28, 2006 @ 4:51 pm
I have. I’ve gotten very tired of him blasting the same people over and over again. I’m not saying they don’t deserve it but it’s beginning to get a bit tired and worn. Just because I understand ratings wars doesn’t mean the majority of his audience does. And I’m not sure why people would care he’s got a long-running beef with Bill O’Reilly & Fox. He just can’t seem to let it go and is trying to boost his own ratings by riding BOR’s coattails when he should be working on improving his own show. Give me some new guests, have on a variety of opinions, stop recycling old pieces. Do something different for a change: the show is interchangable from one night to the next anymore.
Comment by MGM — June 28, 2006 @ 6:15 pm
Just how many times can you say the same stuff over and over again and have it be entertaining. BOR is the worst person in the world, good fine. Do you think I am stupid or what, you really do not have to tell me 250 times for me to get you do not like BOR. Is he the worst person in the world? Maybe to you, but to me he is a newscaster and none of you are the best or worst person in the world.
You over-rate both BOR and yourself with the crap, many people are worse in this world and many have more ability to judge who that is.
I wonder if he loses his show because he has become so BORing he will realize it? I think BORSUCKS is already taken, sorry dude
Comment by MrPurrfect — June 29, 2006 @ 2:27 am
Shows like this and Hardball which are nothing more than sewer pipes for the DNC and moveon will never grow beyond the audience of Bush haters who don’t have a life. KO has gone from a nobody sports reader to an amateur sit-down comic with stale scripted guests. No wonder he throws his scripts on the floor.
Comment by Adrian Snap — June 29, 2006 @ 3:06 am
I thought I was the only one who realized that his show was the same people with the same views as him. BORING! If he does not want a screaming match then at least get journalists with different opinions. How many times do we need to see Dana Milbank, Richard Wolffe from Newsweek, Craig Crawford and Howard Fineman.
Comment by Down The Middle — June 29, 2006 @ 9:51 am
And can I ask what’s up with the super-animated faces this week? It’s almost like he’s drunk or on drugs or something. Is it a comedy show or a newscast? I know it’s got comedic elements in it (some would argue the entire newscast is) but it’s just. . . . it’s not funny.
Comment by MGM — June 29, 2006 @ 9:59 am
I’ve made a point of introducing friends to Keith’s show…without exception, they’ve liked it. His show is funny, on target, and his opponents look pretty dismal next to him.
Comment by leslie threlkeld — June 29, 2006 @ 12:43 pm
Well…one could ask the same about Ann Coulter…is she a serious Constitutional Attorney/Republican Pundit…or a Conservative Stand-Up Comic…she’s not funny either.
Comment by Mambo the Republican Ladies' Man — June 29, 2006 @ 2:10 pm
Hey Leslie,
Wow, I sure hope your friends like what they see. Tell them to keep watching and they will see the same stuff over and over and over and over again.
Same old sheep, new day. If as you say people like him Abrams could save the network a lot of cash and fire him and just do re-runs. Nobody would miss much, because there is very little new on the show each night.
The worse person in the world does the same job as me and has 10 times my viewers and I hate him. No kidding?
Maybe he could liven up the show by calling people douchebags like he does on the radio. Can you guess who he might desinate with that title. The only surprise is on the radio he used it for someone else.
Comment by MrPurrfect — June 29, 2006 @ 11:30 pm
Maybe if he had people own who would debate him on the issues of the day instead of just rubberstamping whatever point he’s trying to make his ratings might go up.
But KO is afraid to face anyone that would dare challege him..even his most diehard fans deep down know their hero is really a coward..who takes cheapshots from behide his desk.
Comment by mlong — September 30, 2006 @ 12:49 am
Keith Olbermann is hands down the most heroic newscaster on any news channel, network or cable. I and millions of viewers are riveted to his informative, witty, intelligent, and humorous broadcasts every evening. His political commentary of late has been most illuminating. He doesn’t need to have guests on to debate the issues, because he knows the issues, and can report on them intelligently and objectively unlike most hosts on Fox News who when they do have guests on who hold another viewpoint, are ridiculed, shouted down, talked over, and generally disrespected. Your analysis of Countdown’s ratings are obviously skewed, as the ratings are just fine, and Keith will be around for many years to come to tell us all the truth, and counteract the vitriol with which conservative talk show hosts spew towards all things liberal. It’s all you conservatives who are the cowards, that can’t stand it that there is someone on the left who can dish it out even tougher than you.
Comment by Joellyn — October 11, 2006 @ 8:41 pm