Premature prognostications…
TVNewser writes that Countdown came close to beating The O’Reilly Factor last night and broke out quarter hour numbers as evidence. I’m not convinced of the persuasiveness of this entry. Using quarter hours as a benchmark seems like shaky methodology to me at best. O’Reilly still won the hour so it really doesn’t matter what Countdown did for select 15 minute segments, does it?
And this really doesn’t change anything. The Factor continues to regularly beat Countdown in The Demo. TVNewser paints the Demo battle as getting closer, but the data is inconclusive at best. Countdown may be having a good week but it’s still just one week. Ratings trends need to be measured in the long term. Only time will tell whether Countdown is on the upswing vs. The Factor or this is just a temporary blip on the ratings radar. I would be interested in seeing a chart with long term Live+SD data (TVN uses Live+SD so that’s why I refer to it) for the two programs to accurately gauge what’s going on with the Live+SD ratings for the two programs.
Ok spud. Wanna lose credibility FAST? You will when you start pointing to another blog. Probably just doing it to keep the FNC people happy huh? gotta keep the sucking up going so they will fill your mailbox with tips and news huh. too bad you don’t realize when your being used. don’t worry it happens to all the bloggers.
Comment by Me — September 7, 2007 @ 10:05 pm
Well, I don’t know the accuracy of this all, but Olbermann named O’Reilly TWPITW again tonight, but he made an interesting point I’d like to know more about. He said something alone the lines that during the first half hour of the program yesterday, he was above O’Reilly in the demo, and the overall score was relatively close. Is there any way you could look into this Spud? I know it will piss off the FNCer’s, but I’d love to hear more about it.
Comment by Chris (clind) — September 7, 2007 @ 10:16 pm
Sorry about that, I kinda skimmed the post and missed that part. Anyway, it will be interesting to see if the NBC presence of Keith could change Countdown’s ratings at all.
Comment by Chris (clind) — September 7, 2007 @ 10:18 pm
Apparently Fox thinks Geraldo is the resident expert on ALL subjects. He has been turning up frequently on O’Reilly and I don’t watch ANY of those shows. My remote is really going thru alot of batteries. He’s been on Hannity and Colmes alot lately, so I haven’t watched them in a week.
Comment by VMart — September 7, 2007 @ 10:27 pm
How is Spud’s “credibility” in question by questioning the highly dubious claims being made by TVN? How is Spud not being credible for actually providing analysis of what another blog has claimed was true when it was TVN which is trying to promote an idea based on 2 days worth of ratings data? That’s not a trend, my friend, despite what the MSNBC PR department, Olbermann, and his desperate fans are trying to promote.
If you wanna talk about losing credibility here, let’s talk about TVNewser stealing an item from FTVLive, another television blog without attribution. Let’s talk about TVNewser crowing about an Olbermann ratings victory last week without mentioning the little fact that O’Reilly was off on vacation that week. That’s credibility?
Comment by Alison — September 7, 2007 @ 11:03 pm
I think Bill O’Rielly is filling his hour with too much fluff, i.e., that body language gal who tells us stuff about people that you or I would know just by looking at them; Geraldo’s inane ramblings about immigration and any other thing he thinks he knows all about; that ridiculous culture contest BS with Steve Doofus and Martha somebody - all these segments he has recently been using just seem to be using up air time cause he can’t think of anything else to do. He needs to go back to his old style and get some discussions going on about stuff we are interested in or he is going to lose viewers. I just cannot watch Geraldo no way, no how. Do youall like those segments I mentioned or do you think they are just fluff.
Comment by Sophia — September 7, 2007 @ 11:07 pm
Body language isn’t my favorite, but I like Bernie & Jane, and, sorry, the culture quiz too.
Comment by johnny dollar — September 7, 2007 @ 11:26 pm
I agree with Sophia. I can’t stand the body language segment. What’s next? Astrology? Palm reading? And leave the culture quiz for the Game Show Network. BOR’s wasting too much time on the stupid fluff. He really needs to get back to the important issues.
And given how influential TVN is in the cable news business, I think it’s very appropriate for ICN to cover their declining credibility and increasing bias.
Comment by TBDave — September 8, 2007 @ 3:16 am
Sophia and Dave, I concur! People watch O’Reilly for his take on the news, not all of this fluff! There are other venues for that.
And as VMart opines, enough of Geraldo already. I don’t know how O’Reilly can allow him on the program after his remarks about Michelle Malkin, O’Reilly’s guest host and frequent guest! HE should be deported (from Fox, anyway).
Comment by Missy — September 8, 2007 @ 8:53 am
The Factor has become the modern video version of what Reader’s Digest used to be: down-home, Us versus Them conservatism; repetition of the same themes and contributors; inane quizzes; and near-total reliance on various “departments,” such as the body-language woman.
Reader’s Digest had a massive readership and it does not seem that O’Reilly will ever be passed in total viewership. However, Olbermann’s demo numbers have gotten much closer, and if MSNBC ever gave him a lead-in with more juice, Olbermann’s demos might start to match Bill’s.
O’Reilly can probably go on forever like this making money for FNC, but it will be interesting to see if he tries to revamp the program to generate news and buzz like the old days.
As recently as 2004, there was a lot of discussion as to whether Democratic candidates, such as John Kerry, should do “The Factor.” Now, the idea of such a dilemma seems like a joke.
When was the last time a prominent Democrat or liberal went on the show? Given O’Reilly’s current audience and format, there’s no real upside to it. The number of young, independent viewers is small, and even if the interview went well, you’d spend the rest of the week being torn apart in the body language/Kirsten-Michelle/Bernie-Jane segments.
Comment by chalmers — September 8, 2007 @ 9:15 am
Not sure if you ever really watch BO, but he usually has liberals on every night. In fact, I think he prefers it. He often has two democratic consultants on at the same time. The real question is “when has KO EVER had a conservative or Republican on? ”
r
Comment by Jim — September 8, 2007 @ 9:54 am
I like the Bernie and Jane segments; I’m in the minority here but Geraldo on BOR is usually a pretty good conversation. Also, love it when he sends that young producer (Jesse, I think is his name) to get in the faces of those arrogant judges. His show may need some tweaking but it is still the one to beat.
As for KO this week, he came close; obviously the show before the football game helped in terms of promotion. If it’s close in January, I’ll consider it a real contest between the two.
Comment by Scott — September 8, 2007 @ 10:34 am
So getting 100,000 fewer viewers in the DEMO, and 1.5 million fewer overall is “coming close”? Close counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
Until someone else in the 8pm time slot can average 1 million viewers per night…. or even get that many more than a handful of times, any talk about someone catching O’Reilly in the ratings is nonsense.
As for BOR’s show… I agree about the body language & Geraldo segments. They should go. Bernie & Jane should stay.
As for having Dems & liberals on…. the coward Democrats are running away from FOX, to their detriment, as John Kerry admitted when he ran from the Factor in ‘04.
However, O’Reilly has libs on every night. It’s called offering the other point of view. Olbermann should try it sometime.
Comment by bigred — September 8, 2007 @ 12:06 pm
I guess I’m in the minority, but I like the Body Language segments. I don’t necessarily put a lot of stock into the result, but I think it is interesting.
Perhaps I’m alone in thinking that there are repeated behaviors that people do when they’re lying, nervous, confident, arrogant, etc. and having the Body Language segment just highlights that. After all, politicians and public speakers have to go through communications training… what do you think they’re learning to do?
However, I’m not real big on the Culture Quiz… that just seems dumb to me.
Comment by ImNotBlue — September 8, 2007 @ 12:25 pm
I like the culture quiz. But the body language segment is a crock!
The words I would chose to describe Olbermann can’t be used in polite society.
Comment by Cella — September 8, 2007 @ 12:37 pm
I dont care for the body language segment at all. I used to watch KO sometimes just, but he has turned into to much of an idiot to watch at all. What I would love to see is KO invite who ever he names as worst person on the show the next night. But he is so much of a coward he would never do it.
Comment by Tom P — September 8, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
When was the last time a prominent Democrat or liberal went on the show?
Chalmers: You must have missed the now infamous interview with Christopher Dodd.
And for all your supposed analysis about him attracting younger viewers, the main reason that the KO numbers are increasing is because of the disarray at CNN at 8pm ET. I doubt that he is pulling viewers from anyplace else.
Re: Bernie and Jane segment.
Here is some ammunition for the BOR haters such as “Me:” O’Reilly (the sexist?) always asks Bernie the first question, never Jane. Check it out next Thursday,
Comment by Ira — September 8, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
My comments about the fluff pieces didn’t include the Bernie and Jane segments. I love those, especially Bernie, but just wish OR would let them speak and not keep cutting them off and interrupting them. Guess that is asking too much.
Comment by Sophia — September 8, 2007 @ 4:57 pm