Q2 2007: Program Ranker…
Here is the Q2 2007 Program Ranker (ranked by Total Viewers/P2+). FNC had 13 of the top 15 programs.
FNC was #4 in all of basic cable in primetime for the quarter. FNC was the only basic top ten cable network. FNC was up double digits across the board in the primetime Demo for the quarter including increases for O’Reilly, Hannity & Colmes, and On the Record. On The Record with Greta Van Susteren had a large increase in the demo, up 25% for the quarter. FNC’s America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly, which just launched in February, had a big increase in demo for the quarter (up 21%).
Woohoo!! Good for FOX and good for Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly!!
Comment by Noelle — July 3, 2007 @ 7:29 pm
To PeoplePeople: For all of the parsing from MSNBC and the others, this is the only ranking that really means anything.
And for the past five years, the needle has barely changed.
Comment by Ira — July 3, 2007 @ 7:54 pm
Yeah, the needle has barely changed for FNC and CNN. But, MSNBC’s top program was Imus with 300K a while back. And, KO just pulled in 631K. By my quick&dirty calculations that appears to be double! Spin that. Also, I’m full aware FNC is in “another league” when in comparison to the other news channels. And no I’m not a KO groupie.
Comment by Terance — July 3, 2007 @ 8:12 pm
It is funny how FNC gets so much criticism, but it looks as if those who are criticizing are the minority. While I know not everyone who watches FNC is a Fox fan, the majority is and trusts them for the news and listens to the opinions shows.
Dan Abrams should call Roger Ailes and ask if Ailes could be his mentor. MSNBC needs all the help they can get. Even KO can’t pull them out of their downward spiral. No matter how grand-e-ose he thinks he is.
Comment by jerziegrl — July 3, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
Keith “Seventeenth Place” Olbermann continues with his “impressive” “ratings”. Earth to Dan Abrams: Your gameshows have no audience. Get over it, you delusional fool.
Comment by Tom — July 3, 2007 @ 9:24 pm
WOW. 631 K!! He’s in 17th place!! That’s remarkable. He also finished THIRD in his timeslot for June. But let’s do dozens more stories on how great Olbermann’s ratings are.
Comment by bigred — July 3, 2007 @ 9:29 pm
Don’t worry, the MSM will more than happily oblige.
Comment by Alison — July 3, 2007 @ 9:44 pm
What is F&F first? There are 2 F&F.
Comment by Noelle — July 3, 2007 @ 10:02 pm
It’s only a matter of time before the other news outlets either change or go out of business! The difference is Fox News isn’t always negative like the others! If the other news organizations had it there way the U.S.A. would be the most EVIL country in the world. FOX NEWS IS KILLING THEM PERIOD!!!!!! U.S.A U.S.A HEE HEE!
Comment by shane — July 3, 2007 @ 10:07 pm
I love Greta, but I think her demo increase is probably due to her wall to wall coverage of stories like Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith, which as a regular viewer is driving me up the wall! I remember she got huge ratings, even beating O’Reilly some nights, for her coverage of Natalee Holloway.
I give her credit though, because she gets interviews and information that no one else does, like the walk-through she did of Jessie Davis’s home and her interview with ANS’s father. And if the Aruban police had just handed the entire investigation to her, the Natalee Holloway story would probably be solved! She interviewed just about everyone that was ever connected to the case and was breaking news no one else did for months on end.
Comment by Laurel — July 3, 2007 @ 10:14 pm
Fox & Friends First is the segment for one hour from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m (CST) with the guys and that Alison Camerota.
Comment by sophia — July 3, 2007 @ 10:18 pm
sophia lives in Central Time. It’s 6-7 for east coasters, 3-4 for us left coasters.
Comment by erljr — July 3, 2007 @ 11:10 pm
GOTTA LOVE THE 5 HOUR (BURRY THE LEAD) DELAY ON THE HEADLINE:
PMSNBC Q2 ratings at @ 2:30 pm today. / (slash) holiday /
(slash)
Followed by the REAL story @ 7:30 pm Program Ranker
Nice try…….
Hmmm - July 3,2007 @ 11:22 pm
Comment by Hmmm — July 3, 2007 @ 11:22 pm
With those numbers, I wonder if MSNBC will even be around in 10 years. The network is just doing pathetic, even their highest rated show (Olbermann) can’t even seem to get them out of 3rd/4th place most nights.
OH and the numbers for Fox aren’t really surprising. They’ve been on top for a long time.
Comment by King Of Queens — July 3, 2007 @ 11:32 pm
Terance — You are correct to praise MSNBC for making themselves more of a presence in the last year. It is important for CNN, FOX News and MSNBC to all be competitive. When CNN was the only one, we accepted news through rose colored glasses. I enjoy many shows on CNN but with the current competition they all keep each other in check. MSNBC plays a vital roll in the equation. However, as much as I have always liked Dan, after he “wigged out” during the Imus debacle, he is not helping MSNBC.
Comment by Aunt Mary — July 4, 2007 @ 12:18 am
I was curious to see how Fox’s “Red Eye” is doing, as I think the show has improved. They their ratings are in the gutter or their time slot is not taken into consideration…I wonder which applies.
As for MSNBC:
- I caught on to Olbmermann’s show last summer, and since then I’ve grown tired of his relentless jihad against O’Reilly as well as his relentless Bush bashing. I think the charge that MSNBC has taken as “hard turn to the left” (as O’Reilly charges) is somewhat true but I chalked a lot of it up to the fact that the Bush Administration has not performed well in many areas and they were just calling it as they saw it. However Olbermann is now just carrying the far left’s water by calling for Bush and Cheney to resign, having a stroke over the commutation of Libby’s verdict and so on. I think if he continues down this road he will maintain a core audience but won’t see much growth.
- I’ve come to enjoy Tucker Carlson’s show…I think he has engaging discussions with smart guests and the format is finally grounded. Too bad his ratings are so bad….I guess his days are numbered. He ranked below a show that was cancelled.
- It will be interesting to see if “Hardball” rebounds in the fall once people start to pay more attention to the Presidential primaries. His ratings have been going down, but I think that’s because people are tuning out the inside the beltway stuff that Matthews’ show focuses on. Personally I can’t stand his interviewing style, but he has a passion for the beltway news that is hard to match.
- It’s only fair to give it a chance to grow an audience, but I don’t see “Morning Joe” doing very well. The best they can hope for is to stay neck-in-neck with “American Morning” in my opinion. It’s apparent that dumping Imus was a mistake….they had a solid 2nd place show on their hands.
- Will “Live with Dan Abrams” be the permanent replacement, and if so can he build an audience? I think so, as it seems they would be establishing their own version of Greta/Nancy Grace, covering various crimes, court cases and missing women. Dan is surely capable, but is there room for a third?
On a side note, now that the immigration bill is dead and seems to be so until after a new President is sworn in, will Lou Dobbs see a significant ratings decline?
Comment by FishOil — July 4, 2007 @ 1:49 am
Bigred, try and focus on this question… because I’d love to know the answer! What “place” was KO in when Imus had the highest rated program with 300K? Hint: It was a lot lower than 17. See, its called progress. Once you acknowledge this, I feel the KO “cloud” that “torments you so” will begin to dissipate.
Comment by Terance — July 4, 2007 @ 7:36 am
The problem with Olbermann’s ratings are that they peaked in Fall 2006. Over the Summer 2006 he started doing his Special Comments and reached out to the far-left Bush-bashing crowd. He found an audience that boosted his ratings. But he’s pretty much tapped that niche. His audience hasn’t grown since then. Despite a spike in April 2007, his Demo ratings have been shrinking since the November election:
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/original/paulachartjune19.jpg
So all this talk of KO’s amazing ratings increases will be coming to an end very soon.
Comment by TBDave — July 4, 2007 @ 8:18 am
I’m just so sure that Bush/Cheney will resign now that Olbermann has asked them too.
Comment by Alison — July 4, 2007 @ 9:41 am
So that’s what F&F first means. I’m never up that early to catch that. So Gretchen does 2 hours and Allison does 1. I didn’t know that.
Comment by Noelle — July 4, 2007 @ 10:59 am
What’s gonna be really interesting is to see how KO handles it IF we have a new democratic president in 08. He’s gonna have to have a whole new group to rant against and that will be so fun to see how he slants everything then.
Comment by sophia — July 4, 2007 @ 11:14 am
Good point, Sophia. But, the same can be said for FNC if a dem is elected president. Will they continue to be pro-government? Or is the biggest “flip flop” to hit cable news just around the corner?
Comment by Terance — July 4, 2007 @ 11:26 am
Fishoil,
It is true the amnesty bill got killed, but where is the border and port security? The Corporations are still pushing for wide open borders. There is still the North American Alliance crowd the Nafta Super Highway being built. I think Lou Dobbs has lots to cover.
Comment by Ree — July 4, 2007 @ 11:27 am
FishOil: Apparently the ratings are only for 6am - Midnight, ET, otherwise in addition to “Red Eye,” the H&C and Greta reruns would be included.
Terance: I’m not sure I get your point about MSNBC. Sure, what they lost with Imus, they may have gained with KO but overall IMO, the network appears to be making little progress.
Comment by Ira — July 4, 2007 @ 12:10 pm
Ok, Ira. Let me try again. A couple of years ago MSNBC’s top rated program in P2+ was Imus with a mere 300K.. During this time KO was hovering in the 200K’s. Now he’s in the 600K’s. I call that a 3X growth factor. Sure he’s not anywhere near FNC and doesn’t even hold second place for the month. But, there is a big difference between averaging 200K and 600K, eh? I realize this is a low number when compared to BO. However, acting as if no one else’s numbers matter because they can’t beat BO is lame at best.
Comment by Terance — July 4, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
#13,
I agree with you completely. I have NEVER said, just repeating my position for the FNC spinners here, that FNC did not crucify its competition. What I have said, is that they will not admit that they are biased, nor will the viewers who watch FNC.
I seems to me, most FNC viewers believe because they watch the #1 cable news channel, that somehow that equates to the channel being ‘unbiased’. After all, why would they have the ‘most’ viewers if they were ‘biased’? Well, I’m here to set the record straight (as if no one other knew) that FNC does lean heavily to the right, just as MSNBC leans heavily to the left, and CNN out of all three probably is a bit to the left, but certainly the most unbiased out of all three stations.
FNC came around and filled a ‘Republican’, right-leaning void. If there was another ‘right leaning’ news station for example, FNC ratings would not be as high, as they would be splitting total viewers with that ‘other’ station. That is what we see happening with the left leaning organizations: the networks, CNN, MSNBC all split viewers. If there was only one, they would crucify FNC.
FNC is but a blip in the entire scheme of news organizations (when considering print, networks, magazines, radio, paid radio, etc). They are winning the ratings currently, but what this chart above does not show, is overall, CNN and FNC have actually lost viewers in the past year, while MSNBC has gained viewers.
Do not count CNN and MSNBC out. An organization that has been in the number one slot as FNC has, only strengthens the will of its competitors to take them down. With the ENORMOUS corporations backing MSNBC and CNN, they aren’t going down without a fight. I believe you will begin to see further signs of FNC’s ratings eroding to CNN and MSNBC.
As I have also said before, MSNBC is in the midst of a re-organization, and will be adding new shows, as you’ve seen already. Just because they were kicked down and on the ground for a long while, doesn’t mean a recovery isn’t in store. Stay tuned. CNN and HN will be also making prime time changes that will stir the pot to make for an interesting year ahead. Stay tuned.
Comment by Peoplepeople — July 4, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
I find it interesting that American Morning has dropped in ratings compared to last year despite their talent change.
Comment by newsfan — July 4, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
#16,
Hardball’s number have not gone down, but slightly up.
I agree with your analysis of Keith Olbermann. He needs to debate Republicans ‘live’. What a show that would be!
As for Lou Dobbs, I’ve read that comment several times before on this blog. Lou Dobb’s flagship issue currently is illegal immigration. But that is not Lou Dobb’s only ‘large’ issue if you watch the show; he actually has many that could instantly replace ‘illegal immigration’ if need be. China for one, and many of the unbalanced trade laws this nation of ours has with other countries. He talks very much about the average workers in this country losing their jobs to outsourcing which is still widely going on with these disgraceful corporations. He talks widely about the education system in the country and how it’s failing our children, and other topics. So you see, there are many issues this very hardened commentator can bring off the back burner and make a case for that will get the viewing public interested in. Don’t count Dobb’s out, he’s probably one of the most raw, honest, astute, under-rated commentators in cable news.
Comment by Peoplepeople — July 4, 2007 @ 2:32 pm
I agree that MSNBC has drastically increased their ratings over the past year. They took a turn to the left and reached out to the blue blog crowd. It worked. Their ratings now are better than they were a year ago.
But that ratings increase peaked in Fall 2006. There hasn’t been any real growth since that time.
If you look at MSNBC’s First Quarter 2007 press release and compare it to their Second Quarter 2007 press release, you’ll see that they’ve actually lost viewers over the past couple months:
FIRST QUARTER 2007 - http://tinyurl.com/2oyxsj
SECOND QUARTER 2007 - http://tinyurl.com/35bdjn
Olbermann went from a first quarter of 711,000 (252,000 in the Demo) to a second quarter of 710,000 (241,000).
Chris Matthews at 5pm went from a 450,000 (147,000) down to a 407,000 (135,000). At 7pm he went from a 457,000 (169,000) down to a 423,000 (146,000)
Tucker at 4pm went from a 343,000 (113,000) down to a 301,000 (102,000). The press release doesn’t mention Tucker’s 6pm ratings in the second quarter.
Scarborough went from 513,000 (186,000) in the first quarter, down to a 467,000 (170,000) in the second quarter.
So they did a good job last summer. However, they haven’t made any progress since then. Those glowing press releases may fool the liberal TV critics into writing some positive articles. But I’m sure the money men in charge aren’t happy.
Comment by TBDave — July 4, 2007 @ 3:17 pm
#22 - Terance - I think it is more the ideals of many on Fox News rather than just plain pro-government. So if the Dems take over and take us in the direction of a “socialistic government” you will see Fox News very much against that taking place. So that is not a “flip-flop” it is staying with the same ideals.
#26 peoplepeople — You suggest that “CNN and MSNBC split viewer and if there was only one, that network would crucify Fox. —– The way I see it is, if for example MSNBC went off the air and EVERY single one of their viewers went to CNN, they would still fall short of a “Crucifixion”, because most days when you add MSNBC and CNN total viewers they do not total more that FOX News.
Comment by Aunt Mary — July 4, 2007 @ 3:55 pm
“Keith “Seventeenth Place” Olbermann continues with his “impressive” “ratings”.”
And look who’s number 16!!
“Stay tuned. CNN and HN will be also making prime time changes that will stir the pot to make for an interesting year ahead. Stay tuned.”
Yes because the last round of primetime changes at CNN worked out so well they already have to do another round and haven’t taken a dint out of Fox and are even being passed by MSNBC. The moron who’s running the show at CNN needs to be relieved of his duties as he’s shown that he’s completely incompetent. And this crack head thinks that CNN is the most unbiased channel…..ha ha ha. I’ve never heard such drivel in my entire life. Yet another a$$ kissing, suck up to CNN shill there never was. At least we now know that your opinion is biased.
Comment by Mary Snow — July 4, 2007 @ 4:07 pm
PP
How come you make so much sense here, but other times come off as a raving lunatic? Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde?
I agree with most of what you said in both posts. However, you misread FishOil’s point. FO was comparing Hardball’s 1st quarter and 2nd quarter #s, not the 2nd quarter year-to-year comparison in all of these posts.
Comment by erljr — July 4, 2007 @ 4:25 pm
So if FNC has Bob Beckel debating Ann Coulter, that’s leaning to the right. But it’s somehow less biased to have Terry McAuliffe debate Paul Begala? Give me a break!
The difference between FNC and the other networks is not some right-wing agenda or bias. FNC just gives conservative views an equal chance to be heard - without disdain and without ambushes. And that’s what the other networks just can’t stand.
Comment by Laurel — July 4, 2007 @ 4:29 pm
#22 - Terance — The position of most on Fox News is more about ideals than pro-government. If the Dems take all and move to a “Socialistic Government”, you will surely find that Fox News will not be in step with them. That is not “flip-flopping” it is quite the contrary, it is staying with their ideals.
#26 - peoplepeople — You say “the networks, CNN, MSNBC all split viewers. If there was only one they would crucify Fox”. I do not see it that way, lets say MSNBC went off the air and CNN got EVERY single one of their viewer. Most days if you add CNN and MSNBC together you do not reach FOX News total. That to me is not a “Crucifixion”.
Comment by Aunt Mary — July 4, 2007 @ 5:41 pm
Hardball’s number have not gone down, but slightly up.
People & FishOil: If he was on either CNN or Fox and mired in 27th place after so many years on the network, Matthews would have been long gone!
Comment by Ira — July 4, 2007 @ 6:59 pm
Olbermann would never agree to debate anyone who disagreed with him-he doesn’t have the balls to, it’s why there is never anyone with a differing opinion on his show.
Comment by Alison — July 4, 2007 @ 7:03 pm
#22 - Terance — The position of most on Fox News is more about ideals than pro-government. If the Dems take all and move to a “Socialistic Government”, you will surely find that Fox News will not be in step with them. That is not “flip-flopping” it is quite the contrary, it is staying with their ideals.
#26 - peoplepeople — You say “the networks, CNN, MSNBC all split viewers. If there was only one they would crucify Fox”. I do not see it that way, lets say MSNBC went off the air and CNN got EVERY single one of their viewer. Most days if you add CNN and MSNBC together you do not reach FOX News total. That to me is not a “Crucifixion”.
Comment by Aunt Mary — July 4, 2007 @ 8:02 pm
The position of most on Fox News is more about ideals than pro-government
Aunt Mary: That was especially with the recent immigration debate when Cavuto, Gibson and Hannity all opposed the President’s position (as did Colmes) and O’Reilly was only luke-warm.
Comment by Ira — July 4, 2007 @ 9:18 pm
Imus hasn’t been on in over 80 days - what are the dates for these numbers? Just curious
Comment by jules — July 5, 2007 @ 10:18 am
I am down to three cablenews Channels CNN,HLN and FOX to watch now, I see bias in all three, I surf to find the news embedded in the scroll at the bottom during the commentary, lots of times. I know my daughter told me to stop getting my news from TV along time ago. For me it comes down to who is watchable and who is discussing anything that is relevant to my life? Lou Dobbs, is civil and he does speak to concerns of American Citizens. I like Sheppard Smith, he has style, I get turned off by Nancy Grace….Glenn Beck needs to turn down the almarmist button. I have asked repeatedly what is the story with Andy Cooper is he a manufactured news personality or does he have a core? If I can’t figure it out, is it because he is trying to be neutral? like a reporter is supposed to be. The thing is during Katrina I remember mumblings about the reporters becoming part of the story instead of reporting on the event…I think given the magnitude of the event they are human and they had to respond in kind. I can’t get a bead on Anderson Cooper?
Comment by Ree — July 5, 2007 @ 11:55 am