Monday’s Numbers…
FNC dominated the night with big numbers for the SOTU in Total Viewers and the Demo, beating MSNBC and CNN combined. Paradoxically, more people tuned in for MSNBC’s post SOTU analysis with Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews than watched the MSNBC broadcast of the SOTU itself; the only network to experience this phenomenon. This would suggest MSNBC’s hosts are pulling in viewers who want to hear what they have to say about the SOTU; presumably Keith Olbermann. They’ll watch the SOTU elsewhere but then tune in to MSNBC for reaction.
Daily Live+SD Ratings for January 28,2008
|
Primetime Total Day Mornings (6-9AM) |
P25-54 P25-54 P25-54 |
P2+ P2+ P2+ |
|
6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10PM 11PM |
P25-54 P25-54 P25-54 P25-54 P25-54 P25-54 |
P2+ P2+ P2+ P2+ P2+ P2+ |
. This would suggest MSNBC’s hosts are pulling in viewers who want to hear what they have to say about the SOTU; presumably Keith Olbermann. They’ll watch the SOTU elsewhere but then tune in to MSNBC for reaction.
Well of course the sheep will follow the leader, luckily for America there is a finite # of these sheep that believe what comes out to the mouth of the people at PMSNBC and the ratings prove that.
Comment by foxmeansbusiness — January 30, 2008 @ 11:08 am
Fox dominated again. Wait till later this year, I think they have big news coming for their prinetime political linup.
Comment by thegreatwhitesouth — January 30, 2008 @ 11:13 am
Olbermann’s fans don’t need to listen to the President because they have Olby to tell them what GDub “really said”.
Comment by Jim — January 30, 2008 @ 11:31 am
Tim Russert and Brian Williams were on for a substantial amount of time for the analysis on MSNBC along with Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. Williams announced it on the NBC SOTU coverage.
Comment by TV Colleague — January 30, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
Fox had the biggest drop from SOTU to the Dem’s responce, which tells me their viewers aren’t interested in what the other side has to say. MSNBC had HIGHER viewership for the Dem Response…interesting. Maybe they have finally keyed in to counter-programming.
You can’t beat Fox by trying to BE Fox…and it’s only taken them 9 years to learn that.
Comment by Cory!! Strode — January 30, 2008 @ 2:15 pm
I like Brian but I think it’s a stretch to believe that people will tune in to MSNBC just to hear him wax political on the SOTU. They have done the “the coverage continues over on MSNBC” thing before but not with this sort of bounce.
Comment by Spud — January 30, 2008 @ 3:37 pm
#5 Why should they listen to the Dem response, they hear it 24/7 on ABC CBS NBC NY Times LA Times NPR day in and day out as the liberal media runs the DNC talking points.
They listen to Fox News for the real truth and get it every day.
Comment by thegreatwhitesouth — January 30, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
Hey Cory
A novel idea would be to put together an old fashion news broadcast that does in-depth hard news without the opinion. Like covering stories fairly and reporting both sides of an issue equally. How about putting the editorials in clearly marked pundit shows and not allow any on air NEWS REPORTERS to express opinions (or so called analysis) political bias and sniping of any type. Do you think that formula might work? Also, do away with MR. unname experts, (that support the reporter’s point of view) and politically charged descriptions as well as unnamed secret sources. Unfortunately, the NBC management has abused the once great NBC brand so badly that it will take a long time to recover (if ever). And if you think Andrea Mitchell is an example of an objective reporter, well then you probably haven’t a clue. My son’s high school journalism adviser requires more genuine integrity in the school newspaper than you see on NBC. The network is a disgrace.
Comment by Steve L — January 30, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
Why should they put an “old fashion newscast without opinion” on? Countdown has been very successful when they finally decided to allow Olbermann to go left. Lets face it, the days of “hard news without opinion” is long gone.
Comment by untitled — January 30, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
#9
You must be kidding. Countdown is #19. Keep telling yourself that is success, and (with all due respect) keep drinking the cool aid. The good news for MSNBC is there is now where to go but up. Why not try a new strategy that garners some respect and possibly along with it some improved ratings. Alas they keep digging the hole deeper and deeper.
Comment by Steve L — January 30, 2008 @ 4:53 pm
I think that was my point Steve. Considering Countdown had pretty low numbers and no where to go but up, why not let Olbermann use his “I’m the savior ‘newscaster’ of the left” screed. It is working. His ratings compared to a year ago are significantly higher. (Doesn’t matter that Nancy Grace beats him often. He has way better numbers than he had a year ago, and thats all that matters to GE owned MSNBC).
Comment by untitled — January 30, 2008 @ 6:31 pm
Steve L.
I’ve been calling for that for years, but to no avail. Prime Time is opinion, not news.
BTW, having one lefty and one righty give their opinion and the host says “There you go” is not “news coverage”. News coverage consists of facts without some partisan explaining it to people so it favors them. And I haven’t seen that on ANY news channel is ages…
So, Steve L., do you feel the same way about the other prime time shows, or JUST the ones on MSNBC?
Comment by Cory!! Strode — January 30, 2008 @ 7:43 pm
Morning Joe got beat by CNBC in the demo.
Why does it say Out in the Open for CNN @ 8.
Nancy Grace has been on fire @ 8 lately.
Comment by Aaron — January 30, 2008 @ 10:12 pm
#11, Thanks for your comment. I can’t believe that any business organization or news outlet would be or should be satisfied with those last place numbers. NBC needs a fundamental change in management and programing because their current strategy clearly is not working. That’s what the number say. Last is still last the last time I checked. The network seems to be desperate without any code of conduct or fundamental integrity. They will say anything in their news broadcast if it would get noticed. I think the ratings should be telling them (or at least the GE management) it is not working.
#13, Thanks for your comment. The novel idea I posted in my comment # 8 should apply to all “news Broadcasts and their News Staff. There should be the old editorial firewall that News people should not breach. Their job is to report the news in a balanced and fair manner. I enjoy the pundit shows as much anyone but don’t think the hard news people should be mixing it up and continuing it into what are suppose to be their networks hard news reports. Also the reporting standards seem to have gone to hell and anything seems to pass for reporting. News people seem to think that reporting their personal perceptions and their personal experiences are news. It comes across as supreme elitism and laughable arrogance. What they are doing is not journalism, honest reporting or enlightening. The public is not buying it.
Comment by Steve L — January 30, 2008 @ 10:26 pm
Steve L,
“The public is not buying it.”
Sadly, I disagree. Straight news fails in the ratings, and pundit/opinion shows sell. Of course, that is because news departments now have to generate profit, where in the 80’s and earlier, they were considered part of a network’s “public service” and merely had to not lose a LOT of money. Once they had to generate profit, the firewall went away because opinion shows generate controversy and Controversy Creates Cash.
Comment by Cory!! Strode — January 30, 2008 @ 10:32 pm
Cory: Check your abacus: FNC had 3,352,000 watch the Dem response, a slippage of about 700,000 from the SOTU, the same as CNN.
Comment by Ira — January 30, 2008 @ 11:57 pm
No, my math says that 4,480,000 minus 3,352,000 is 1,128,000.
2,692,000 minus 1,983,000 is 709,000.
Last I checked, 1,128,000 is greater than 709,000.
Granted, as a liberal, I’m used to being told that my math is wrong, but in this case, I’m showing my work. ^_^
Comment by Cory!! Strode — January 31, 2008 @ 11:27 am
Cory: I stand, or sit corrected. I initially looked at the 9PM Fox number, not the first FNC line at 10pm.
However, some of those Post SOTU Analysis numbers look screwy. While Fox only showed a slight loss, MSNBC actually increased by over 200,000.
Comment by Ira — January 31, 2008 @ 12:07 pm