CNN falls to third place
posted at 1:45 pm on March 28, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
CNN lost its cable-news-network lead to Fox years ago, but had a firm grip on second place … until now. CNN’s viewership has remained steady, but MS-NBC has grown its audience considerably, thanks to its partisan direction over the last year. Neither comes close to knocking off the champ, though:
CNN is poised to finish March third in the prime-time weeknight ratings behind Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the first time this has ever happened for the channel that pioneered the cable news genre nearly three decades ago.
CNN says its overall business is healthy and it is not straying from its straight news path. But it is suffering more audience erosion than its rivals since the peak days of the presidential election, further proof that the opinionated prime-time shows on Fox and MSNBC have greater audience loyalty.
CNN’s weekday prime-time ratings are relatively flat compared to last year during the primary campaign, up 1 percent from March 2008, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox’s ratings have jumped 30 percent and MSNBC, the new No. 2, is up 24 percent. The biggest growth in cable news is for CNN’s partner, HLN, formerly Headline News, which is up 62 percent.
Fox remains on a mountain above its two closest competitors, with its prime-time audience in March more than that of MSNBC and CNN combined. “The O’Reilly Factor” has done particularly well, keeping more of its postelection audience than anything else on CNN and MSNBC.
CNN says they will continue to focus on straight news reporting rather than try to compete on the ideological bases of their competitors, but some conservatives will scoff at that notion. While CNN sets up their shows as straight-arrow reporting and analysis, many have detected subtle and not-so-subtle biases from hosts Anderson Cooper, Larry King, Campbell Brown, and others. They may not be as explicitly directional as either Fox or MS-NBC, but they have not plowed a down-the-middle approach.
Brown appears most in danger of losing her slot, falling far behind Keith Olbermann, who himself remains far behind Bill O’Reilly. CNN says they’ll stick with Brown in order to build her audience, but the populist schtick doesn’t seem to be competing with the more well-established populist schtick of her competitors. Brown will go on maternity leave, which might portend a change, but CNN will replace her with Roland Martin in the interim, who doesn’t have Brown’s charisma.
CNN might consider sticking closer to a straight news approach, and perhaps finally pushing Larry King into retirement. He’s barely beating Rachel Maddow now as it is, and both are getting clobbered by Sean Hannity’s solo effort. They’re not going to find ideological space any longer, not with MS-NBC going explicitly liberal. If they really want to provide an alternative, that’s the opening.
Blowback
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Such luminaries as Gergen, Begala and Carville. The ratings explain themselves.
ddrintn on March 28, 2009 at 2:49 PM
That’s exactly it. MSNBC gives the libbie audience a much louder echo chamber while CNN still comes across as relatively “stuffed shirt” to the wilder moonbats. As pointed out, Fox is killing both of them combined in the ratings–it’s not even close.
While it would be nice to see CNN go “straight news”, that’s not going to happen thanks to Ted Turner–he won’t let it go nonpartisan–and neither will his execs.
Matt Helm on March 28, 2009 at 2:49 PM
Wow, getalife’s uncle showed up.
Here are some examples of CNN’s “impartial objectivity”.
Anderson Cooper showed insurgent-provided videotapes of the sniper’s-eye views of US troops just before they were shot.
CNN planted people at last year’s Democrat debates.
Their former CEO had to resign in disgrace after falsely accusing American troops of murdering journalists in Iraq. A couple of years before that, he had also admitted that he and his network ignored Saddam Hussein’s atrocities against his own people for over 10 years-just so they could keep their precious office in Baghdad open.
When you can find examples of the other networks acting so irresponsibly, we’ll talk.
Del Dolemonte on March 28, 2009 at 2:49 PM
I agree that at times Fox can be a complete circus; however, the fact that CNN even tolerates Roland Martin is ridiculous. I don’t know how many times they’ve asked him a question and instead of answering, he simply blames Booosh about something completely unrelated. The fact that CNN encourages circus freaks such as Martin, shows they aren’t so different from FOX (in that aspect).
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 2:49 PM
I don’t think the CNN’s problem is bias but they are just plain boring. Like I said earlier King, Brown, and Cooper are not interesting to watch. They just aren’t. Every time I finished watching a Larry King interview I find myself thinking, “Why didn’t he ask this or that?….That would have made the interview more interesting.”
terryannonline on March 28, 2009 at 2:50 PM
Yeah, forgot them… The intelligent smirk.
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 2:50 PM
When are MSNBC and CNN going to realize that most moonbats get their “news” from The Daily Show.
Disturb the Universe on March 28, 2009 at 2:50 PM
Dave S. just a hint Blitzer is suposed to be a news reader… not a commentator… the fact that you watch CNN and you can’t tell the difference between news and opinion is quite telling.
petunia on March 28, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Look, there’s definitely an audience out there for people who like shallow, soundbites that they can latch onto and repeat for months, and who like to pretend that cartoonish bafoons screaming at each other is somehow informative.
I’m not talking about those people… I’m talking about a real news network for intelligent people who want information, and want to hold the powers-that-be to account.
DaveS on March 28, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Jack Cafferty comes to mind…
Del Dolemonte on March 28, 2009 at 2:51 PM
That’s the knockout blow. Discussion over.
Spirit of 1776 on March 28, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Judging from your posts–that’s certainly not you. You don’t even know what you are watching!
petunia on March 28, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Yay! The first strawman!
DaveS on March 28, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Nope. You aren’t.
DannoJyd on March 28, 2009 at 2:52 PM
I think they already know that. They bring the comedy and Stewart brings the propaganda/editing.
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 2:52 PM
In case I didn’t make myself clear, I don’t watch CNN, and I don’t think intelligent people watch any of the cable news networks.
DaveS on March 28, 2009 at 2:52 PM
They’re all opinionated. CNNs problem is that they try to act like they’re not. They try to pass of opinion as journalism and advocacy as straight news.
At Fox News all of the players are clearly labeled.
29Victor on March 28, 2009 at 2:53 PM
Don’t worry, I won’t burn you at the stake… You know you should be careful when challenging Fox news…
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 2:54 PM
I don’t know if I go as to claim that CNN is impartial. I happen to think Christine Amanpour and their other reporters televise extremely one-sighted reports. But do they give these opinion shows than Fox News or MSNBC? Yes, they are less focused on opinion but that doesn’t mean they are impartial.
terryannonline on March 28, 2009 at 2:55 PM
HA! According to Huffpo’s this is not important because TV is obsolete. Unlike say, newspapers which Pelosi and friends are tripping over themselves to keep alive.
ctmom on March 28, 2009 at 2:55 PM
I think John King does a great job, and Campbell Brown is also very good. Unfortunately, she is going on maternity leave and Obama booster Roland Martin will take her place.
MayBee on March 28, 2009 at 2:55 PM
100% agree. Although some of CNN’s work really isn’t that biased, the opinion panels are totally slanted.
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 2:55 PM
OK, I think we’ve reached the point where the typical commenter here has exceeded his capacity for understanding and remembering what has been said previously… if you think I am saying that CNN is a “real news network for intelligent people” that holds power to account, then you have lost your handle on the conversation… you need to go back and read the thread.
My only point re:CNN was that it is clearly and inarguably less biased than the other two, and I don’t think any objective/rational person would even try to argue with that.
DaveS on March 28, 2009 at 2:56 PM
HuffPo would have us believe that the Supreme Court is also obsolete. Anything that Ariana doesn’t agree with is obsolete.
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 2:56 PM
I didn’t mean to claim that they were impartial… I said that they were the most impartial, but that is admittedly awkward. It would be better to say that they are the least overtly biased.
DaveS on March 28, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Oh, and I like Lou Dobbs. I often don’t agree with him, but he is well informed and you know where he stands. I can’t think of him ever being hypocritical for partisan purposes.
MayBee on March 28, 2009 at 2:57 PM
NFW!
The ratings will tank I tell you…
Roland has like 1 brain cell. The man is a complete joke.
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 2:58 PM
I almost fell over because I was laughing so hard….
DL13 on March 28, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 2:58 PM
And this is why I say we need a network that isn’t personality focused. We need a rotating cast of actual hard-news men and women, who spend MOST of their time doing hard investigative journalism that begins with the assumption that the political class has their own interests at heart and not ours. Let them rotate in and host in-depth coverage of events once every couple of weeks or more.
DaveS on March 28, 2009 at 3:01 PM
Back before the Left totally ruined academia, I took numerous journalism courses at several universities and colleges. These included course in broadcast journalism and print journalism.
Not once was I taught that my job was to “hold the powers-that-be to account”.
No, we were taught that our job was to report the news objectively, without bias.
It’s interesting to note that last year only one major journalistic enterprise held a “power-that-be” to account. Namely Faux News, who was alone in reporting the John Edwards affair. The man was a Presidential candidate, and yet the majority of the media gave him a pass solely because he was a Democrat.
Del Dolemonte on March 28, 2009 at 3:01 PM
LOL Roland Martin to Replace Campbell Brown…hahahah
From an idiot to a race baiting moron we go.
Yes CNN that’s the way to proceed.
BillaryMcBush on March 28, 2009 at 3:01 PM
Ok, I see what are saying now. I would agree with you. I don’t think Christine Amanpous, Larry King, and some their other reporters at CNN try to be overt about their bias. I think they grew thinking a certain way and when they ask questions or report on a issue they don’t realize that their questions are skewed. They have a perception of the world and they are only reporting the way they see it. They are not trying to be overt about it.
terryannonline on March 28, 2009 at 3:01 PM
Hmmm CNN let Beck go remember….
petunia on March 28, 2009 at 3:02 PM
exactly how I feel…
but about my knowledge not yours. heh
pappy on March 28, 2009 at 3:03 PM
That’s not journalism, though, it’s advocacy.
Del Dolemonte on March 28, 2009 at 3:04 PM
I don’t disagree with you; however, I don’t know if cable television is somewhere where this type of reporting could survive – everything is merging into comedy/opinion/entertainment and most of the actual reporting is being completely ignored (at least on television).
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 3:04 PM
CNN is the Obama Fan Club live.
It is pathetic to watch Wolf Blitzer gushing over everything Obama does and attacking any that criticize Obama & Co.
I sometimes wonder if Blitzer has gone totally bonkers; it is almost maniac his lust of Obama. He probably even wears underwear with Obama’s face on it.
On nights when the Obama news is negative, Blitzer probably runs to his
dressing roomshrine to Obama in tears and cries out to the many Obama pictures plastered on his walls, “Obama they just do not understand your greatness! But I will teach them all!”Blitzer and the other CNN-Obama stooges, Jack Cafferty,James Carville, Bill Schneider, Gloria Borger and the rest should be jettisoned if CNN ever hopes to gain any credibility.
This fawning over and defending of anything Obama and the Democrats at CNN has gone beyond ridiculous & hence their drop in ratings.
albill on March 28, 2009 at 3:05 PM
That may be true for Airports and McDonald’s but it’s starting to change, even if slowly. NCL cruise line just added Fox as did the resort I stay at in Costa Rica, along with the hotel I stay in down in Miami. None had Fox a year ago.
Knucklehead on March 28, 2009 at 3:07 PM
But cable news doesn’t allow for this. If you are trying to create content 24 hours a day, you aren’t going to be able to do any investigating. 60 minutes and news magazines can do more investigative journalism because they don’t have crazy deadlines like cable news. I don’t think we should expect real investigative journalism from cable news, it’s unrealistic. They are basically a news wire service for television.
terryannonline on March 28, 2009 at 3:09 PM
Like I said the other day Fox needs to move Beck to 7 to really crush the other 2 assclown networks into getting a clue(doubt it works)and move Shep Smith to 5pm since he’s a douche anyways. It will make those viewer #s on drudge even more hilarious to read.
gsherin on March 28, 2009 at 3:12 PM
I used to watch CNN. Actually I used to watch all three. I want the variety and the different points of view. But then the left just jumped off a cliff! I valued seeing what Chris Matthews thought about issues at one time… but then he became so rabid.
And it is clear there is some bias in Fox. But I think it is far far less than what I have seen in CNN. And the people at Fox try really hard to say…. “this is just my opinion”… And you don’t have to agree with me. “but…. But at CNN they just preach their gospel.
CNN doesn’t even think other opinions exist. And MSNBC have decended into some fantasy world or reality.
And you know who CNN had representing the “Republican” view point the other day? Neil Boortz or whatever his name is. They didn’t even know he is a Libertarian! He kept saying, I’m not a Republican I’m a Libertarian and they were like, “I don’t even know what those words mean…” and then they would ask him to tell the Republican point of view again. CNN is just totally clueless!
petunia on March 28, 2009 at 3:13 PM
No, they need to ditch Shep. His show has always been lame…
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 3:14 PM
One reason why Fox is largely successful in primetime is because most of their opinion shows are hosted by popular radio hosts. Those hosts proved themselves to be successful at attracting a large radio audience before they got their hosting gig at Fox and the audience just went with them.
MSNBC seems to be following that model, with Maddow and now Schulz in their primetime lineup.
If CNN ever decides to hire liberal radio hosts to compete with MSNBC, or conservative hosts to compete with Fox, they would see their ratings rise.
yogi41 on March 28, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Then maybe they could rethink Huckabee…
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 3:14 PM
I could live with that too.
gsherin on March 28, 2009 at 3:15 PM
But instead they promote the likes of Roland Martin…
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 3:16 PM
BTW, the great Newsbusters blog has plenty of evidence against CNN. And unlike their Leftist counterpart Media Matters, they don’t need a corrections page.
Speaking of Media Matters and CNN, Newsbusters even caught CNN anchor Rick Sanchez using MM as a fact checker. Hallucinogenic.
And Soledad O’Brian-also an anchor last time I checked-once breathlessly compared O’bama to US Airways Pilot Sully Sullenberger.
http://www.newsbusters.org/
Del Dolemonte on March 28, 2009 at 3:17 PM
And Jerry Rivers, the fake Hispanic.
Knucklehead on March 28, 2009 at 3:18 PM
That I could live with too.
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 3:20 PM
See, that must be wrong, because only heroes get compared to the O’Messiah. Hence Sully was probably breathlessly compared to the Son of O.
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 3:22 PM
I actually love Shep… You have to have your tabloid headline glasses on… just like comming to Hot Air actually!
I think the “JUST BREAKING–Nothing To See Here Folks” and “Alien Headless Horse Did WHAT?…After This Message” is a hoot. And then he gets some pretty straight news in there too. But the headlines and the teasers are to die for!
petunia on March 28, 2009 at 3:23 PM
CNN has the same problem as the GOP.
They are the democrat-lite news channel. IF you wanna see democrat talking points, you may as well go to MSNBC.
Wanna see GOP, go to Fox.
So CNN is a little in tune with MSNBC, so it just makes it unappealing to everyone.
lorien1973 on March 28, 2009 at 3:24 PM
I respect your opinion, but personally, “meh.”
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 3:25 PM
Whats especially pernicious is that #2 and #3 (they’re both just #2) know full well that, we report you decide versus we decide for you and you swallow it, is worth a great deal more on the bottom line and yet the liberal party lie machine that puts Fox on top only gets worse.
Speaking they’re truth to what?
Speakup on March 28, 2009 at 3:30 PM
The problem for the leftists is that their viewership has to be split amongst many networks, while the conservative viewership has only network. Thus FOX wins. That’s what happens, liberals, when you dominate the media. It just takes one marginally conservative network to garner half of all viewers in America.
keep the change on March 28, 2009 at 3:30 PM
I like CNN at the airport. It’s the only way to keep up with Beta-Male fashion.
hawkdriver on March 28, 2009 at 3:32 PM
Umm… isn’t that a problem for conservatives?
YYZ on March 28, 2009 at 3:36 PM
+1
Anderson had you in mind ;)
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 3:37 PM
It would seem that way…
Upstater85 on March 28, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Well I must admitt==sometimes I am easily entertained… But I like Shep and I like Beck… except that impersonation of Barney Frank yesterday was stupid… It should be easier than that to impersonate Frank.
petunia on March 28, 2009 at 3:38 PM
The problem CNN and MSNBC basically have is that people already know what they will say on just about every political subject: “if Obama is for it, we’re for it.” Fox on the other hand has people on who actually have other ideas. Ideas that you can’t find on CBS, NBC, PBS, ABC, CNN or MSNBC. So Fox has all the TV viewers who want to hear the other side of the story and everyone else divides up the Obama faithful among themselves. As someone said Rupert Murdoch has found a niche market that consists of 50 percent of the country.
Fred 2 on March 28, 2009 at 3:40 PM
The really obvious answer here would be for CNN to go out and capture the badge of “Honest, straightforward, journalism”. Ditch all the die hard Libs and presents the facts- you don’t have to learn right, either; there is so much opportunity out there to get your news from that when I see a “journalist” (?) taking political liberties with the truth, I don’t bother trusting them again. I agree that FOX has pushed their limits on Fair and Balanced….c’mon, Huckabee? Blech. I think playing it up the middle is the only recourse for CNN as well as print journalism. It’s not just young people who get all their news online- there isn’t a newspaper out there, save the WSJ that even TRIES to appear fair. What did they think was going to happen?
anniekc on March 28, 2009 at 3:42 PM
Correct-after MSNBC hired liberal radio host Rachel Maddow, their rating in that time slot increased.
Del Dolemonte on March 28, 2009 at 3:49 PM
I worked at CNN until 1999. I was there for the beginning. Once Gerry Levin hooked Ted into merging with AOL, CNN has been falling off the mountain. Ted has nothing to do with the network anymore. Though Ted is the leading stockholder of Time Warner stock, Ted is no longer involved with daily operations.
CNN has made some huge blunders, Eason Jordan admitting they falsified news accounts in Iraq to keep their Baghdad bureau open. Extending Larry King’s contract this last time. Compromising their integrity with bogus reports and propaganda from war zones. There are a whole lot more, too many to mention in this post.
I hate to see it happening, but the originals did something with very little money and was very successful, when we were kept being told that 24 hour news would never survive. But CNN added expensive talent, studios and more programs originating from the union centered New York and Washington are considerably more expensive to produce.
Roger Ailes of Fox News, took Ted’s original model for 24 hour news and became very successful. The one thing Fox did different was getting rid of the news desks and started to show the female talents legs more. I guarantee you the key demographic watched Fox early on to catch a glimpse at their hot news readers and journalist. Plus, they always had both sides explained in all their reporting. Another thing that helped Fox was that Rupert’s worldwide networks and newspapers were helping with content early on. Sky News was instrumental in the worldwide reporting for Fox News. CNN had to build their international news resources from scratch, which took Ted over 12 years to build. It seems to me that the viewers that moved over for the Fox Prime Time programming remained to view other day-parts and that has been the key to their growth.
Having sat in daily editorial meetings the news organizations always try to spin the news to it a certain viewpoint to pull in viewers. This can be a very slippery slope and early on MSNBC had trouble doing this, but during the last campaign they made an effort to fall way left and that attracted the viewers of CNN to move over.
Atlanta Media Guy on March 28, 2009 at 3:53 PM
At least on CNN you get intelligent people saying intelligent things once in a while.
DaveS on March 28, 2009 at 2:45 PM
In case I didn’t make myself clear, I don’t watch CNN, and I don’t think intelligent people watch any of the cable news networks.
DaveS on March 28, 2009 at 2:52 PM
So they are intelligent people saying intelligent things? How do you know if you do not watch CNN? Hmmmmm.
faol on March 28, 2009 at 3:55 PM
The problem I have with CNN is their approach to “balance.” The conservatives they have on are weak….the equivilent to George Will on ABC’s “This Week.”
Fox, on the other hand, has very strong liberals on like Beckel, Hill, Colmes, etc.
takeamericabackin10 on March 28, 2009 at 4:05 PM
What, no love for Lou Dobbs? The man is pretty much the single reason CNN is at all palatable. At work we have something like 20 screens around the room, most of which show CNN, MSNBC, or the Weather Channel. We had Fox News up for like 3 weeks but my liberal ass coworkers bitched and moaned until they took it down, so now it’s an audio-only feed.
8 hours a day of Roland Martin :(
Plus CNN repeats AC 360 like 3 times in 5 hours…
flashoverride on March 28, 2009 at 4:07 PM
Which Hill? Not E.D. Hill?
hawkdriver on March 28, 2009 at 4:08 PM
faol, DavidS actually invited commenters to go back and review what he wrote. That fact that he didn’t realize that his posts were less than coherent brings into question his sobriety, or possibly something worse.
mossberg500 on March 28, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Dr. Lamont Hill
mossberg500 on March 28, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Wow. Thanks for that detailed insight.
hawkdriver on March 28, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Thanks.
hawkdriver on March 28, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Mark Lamont Hill
takeamericabackin10 on March 28, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Speaking of Maddow. I’ve never watched her show. Can anyone tell me if she is more sane than Olbermann and Matthews?
terryannonline on March 28, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Share holders will put flame throwers on them orrrr they will go the way of Air America. Can you all hear that toilet flushing sound?
dogsoldier on March 28, 2009 at 4:17 PM
Lou Dobbs may be the best news anchor on television. After that the station is just a brainwashed liberal’s dream. Campbell Brown’s show, “All Bias, All Bull” is a prime example.
volsense on March 28, 2009 at 4:17 PM
I don’t know about sane, but she is one angry lesbian.
anniekc on March 28, 2009 at 4:17 PM
“CNN might consider sticking closer to a straight news approach, and perhaps finally pushing Larry King into retirement. ”
I think they are going to do some kind of mechanical/mummification thing and keep him around for a few hundred years. Larry King will still be on the air long after both viewers have passed away.
crosspatch on March 28, 2009 at 4:19 PM
In that cryptkeeper, cryogenic, deathmask with suspenders, kind of way he has.
anniekc on March 28, 2009 at 4:22 PM
-
Exactly what my daughter says about her…
RalphyBoy on March 28, 2009 at 4:26 PM
I have only tried to watch her show one or two times. But I totally agree with the “angry lesbian” comment. However she is angry in a seething way, much less fur and spittle than Olberman.
She buys the crazy theories and conspiracies though, so I suppose “crazy” might fit as well.
You could say, she is the kind of crazy that gets one put in a minimum security facility and Olberman is the kind of crazy that gets one put into a full on lockdown facility.
myrenovations on March 28, 2009 at 4:32 PM
There’s one airport that I love to visit…the airport in Jackson, Mississippi.
Not only do they have FNC, but they have fresh flowers in the bathrooms.
kakypat on March 28, 2009 at 4:37 PM
That’s what she said!
NathanG on March 28, 2009 at 4:37 PM
I occasionally flip over to her show during commercial breaks, but I can’t stand to watch her for more than a minute or two before switching over the something else.
I’ll give her credit for one thing over Olberskank. She at least has guests on from the other end of the political spectrum. And she doesn’t pile on them either. She actually interviews them in a respectful manner.
It’s her extreme left-wing views and her selective outrage that bug me more than anything else.
Doughboy on March 28, 2009 at 4:38 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP4XxucsMyA
RealDemocrat on March 28, 2009 at 4:44 PM
Maddow is more professional than the other liars on MSNBC. She is still a homo too….
RealDemocrat on March 28, 2009 at 4:46 PM
Soledad O’Brian gets on my last nerve.
SouthernGent on March 28, 2009 at 4:47 PM
Didn’t Captain Outrageous sell CNN a while back?
jgapinoy on March 28, 2009 at 4:49 PM
Fox does some heavy and strategic cross-promoting, too. They promote their morning anchors on the popular opinion shows; on any given day, you can catch Megan Kelly, Doocey and others on Beck, O’Reilly, Greta and Hannity. It’s brilliant because sooner or later, you become comfortable with those anchors and begin to tune into them.
MSNBC does a very good job (hard to admit) at promoting Matthews, Keith and Maddow; they are always booked on the late-night shows, The View, Stewart and Colbert.
CNN does not do any of this type of promotion, from what I’ve seen. Perhaps they should start…
Oh, and give Meghan McCain her own show at CNN; this can solidify them as the “moderate” network. (sarc)
yogi41 on March 28, 2009 at 4:51 PM
This last election has forever changed me. I use to watch all the networks, but after the lies, liberal propaganda, Bush bashing & the Republican smear campaign, I will never, ever watch CNN, MSNBC, CNBC or NBC.
Had they done their jobs we wouldn’t have ended up with a community organizer with a questionable past as our president.
So for me it’s the FNC all of the time.
redridinghood on March 28, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Which is why libs don’t do as well in the ratings department as conservatives. Not very many want to seethe in anger and bitterness all the time.
ddrintn on March 28, 2009 at 5:01 PM
Don’t forget CNN falsely accusing the US of nerve-gassing civilians in Laos.
What’s worst about this whole thing is that CNN promotes themself as “The Most Trusted Name in News”.
Try “The Most Busted Name in News”.
Del Dolemonte on March 28, 2009 at 5:06 PM
She got pwned the other night-by a Democrat. She didn’t handle it well at all.
Del Dolemonte on March 28, 2009 at 5:14 PM
Bill O’Reilly reported that the 9 am show on FOX News with Megyn Kelly has more viewers than any prime time show on CNN or MSNBC.
I also noticed that the MSNBC pot smoking leg tingling whack job Matthews did not even show up in the ratings.
May he rest in peace
iam7545 on March 28, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Rick Sanchez.
Jack Cafferty.
Anderson “Giggles” Cooper.
Last place, you say? Shocked! Shocked, I am!
Marcus on March 28, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Television news sources suck. 1) They provide so little time to any one topic (i.e. covering a 400-page bill in 30 seconds). 2) Their disjointed presentation of information destroys one’s ability to concentrate and think beyond the simple or superficial (i.e. 30 seconds of a crane collapse story, followed by a quick blurb on a missing little girl, then today’s token VBIED in Iraq, concluded with a soundbite from a Senator about the environmental impact of the next education reform bill). 3) Little to no analysis, even on the commentary shows, is done. (The junior enlisted analysts with whom I work are far more capable than any of these career
journalistsstorytellers.)Send_Me on March 28, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Agree with earlier posts that:
-CNN’s problem is that they pretend to be straight news, but obviously (to everyone but a lib) they are not.
-Fox’s numbers would be much less if they weren’t the only game in town.
- I will never watch CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC after this last election. I hurt my vocal chords yelling at the TV!
- Since Beck left, Dobbs would be the only reason to watch CNN.
That said, it would seem to me that one of the non-cable networks should learn from Fox and turn to the right. They could even do the straight news thing and market themselves as the only non-partisan network news. They could differentiate easily from every network but Fox and could pick up those who cancelled their cable in a down economy. However, they would have to fire essentially all their current “journalists.”
Christian Conservative on March 28, 2009 at 5:31 PM
Oh yeah CNN they had the Planet in Peril series hmmm….yeah right.
Before Al Gore Invented Global Warming or Global Warming Baloney.
http://sarah-palin-2012.blogspot.com/2009/03/before-al-gore-invented-global-warming.html
Dr Evil on March 28, 2009 at 5:36 PM
A friend of mine switched to Fox simply because they grew sick and tired of hearing Wolf Blitzer, Andy Cooper, and the rest of them at CNN repeat ad nauseam they are “the Best Political Team on Television.”
apacalyps on March 28, 2009 at 5:43 PM
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