Dunn and dumber: Reports of Fox News’s death are greatly exaggerated
So when January ratings showed that Fox had fallen to a 12-year low, left-leaning media and folks like Ms. Dunn declared it the beginning of the end for the house that Ailes built.
Meanwhile, the President’s State of the Union Address was the lowest-rated such speech since 2000.
So what do the two have in common?
Fatigue, primarily. Fatigue from two years of election coverage. Fatigue from political commentary and politics in general. It’s overexposure to politics on the Flo-from-the-Progressive-commercials exposure level. In short, some Fox viewers were disenchanted, tired of it all and simply needed a timeout (and the network still took nine of the top ten spots).
For the President, same deal: Between November’s resounding victory, non-stop fiscal cliff coverage and the inauguration speech, he’s reached the Kardashian exposure apex. He’s now on vacation, one that both he and the public have earned to take from each other.
Blowback
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The borg-mind imbeciles that comprise America’s left don’t know any better. They are no different than Randle Patrick “Mac” McMurphy’s roommates responding to stimuli in the basest form.
tom daschle concerned on February 15, 2013 at 9:55 PM
Effectively dead to me.
astonerii on February 15, 2013 at 9:58 PM
FoxNews wastes a lot of air time with their three stooges Ted Baxter, Shemp Smith and Geraldo Rivera. The leeches Juan Williams and Bob Beckel are best suited to shoveling it over at the DNC hack shows of Billy Moyers, Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley or the PBS NewsHour / Communist FRONTLINE Obama posterior-kissers Gwen Ifill, Judy Woodruff and Jeff “Tailwind” Greenfield.
Besides “Breaking News” typically being more of the same old stuff of the previous several hours the Bottle Blonde employment rule usually pairing an artificial not quite to the roots mop top with dark brown eyes, eyebrows really creeps me out in a “Britney” sort of way.
viking01 on February 15, 2013 at 10:02 PM
Fox News is quickly becoming just another cog in the ‘left-leaning media’ machine. Fox News is losing viewers because they have lost their way.
Pork-Chop on February 15, 2013 at 10:05 PM
So you’re sayin’ you’re not a fan?
//
Bitter Clinger on February 15, 2013 at 10:06 PM
They may as well be dead. I call them “Faux News” not as a liberal slam but because they SUCK, and are about as bad as all the 3-letter places.
MelonCollie on February 15, 2013 at 10:07 PM
Fox has become so bland, boring, and predictable. It’s as if they’ve lost the will to fight and are more concerned with what Comedy Central says about them than anything else.
joekenha on February 15, 2013 at 10:12 PM
I still have my FoxNews t-shirt, bumper sticker and various other memorabilia from the late 1990s back when FoxNews was beginning the rapid rise to the top. Back in the day when in some areas of the country watching the shows on the internet was the only choice because Lefty supporting cable companies such as Cox “Ray Nagin” Cable were trying to keep FoxNews off the air. O’Reilly wasn’t yet a populist, Shemp Smith was still in college and Brit Hume was asking NPR-hack Mara Liasson “have you even read anything on this issue?” at least once a day.
Let’s just say things there ain’t what they used to be.
viking01 on February 15, 2013 at 10:22 PM
I still like to see MKH when I happen to be watching
, but gun control is my only issue now, and O’Reilly is not knowledgeable on the subject. I mostly have on old crime show reruns, and get my news/opinion from sites like this, and the radio.
juliesa on February 15, 2013 at 10:22 PM
A lot of folks on this site like to bash Brit Hume but I’ve always liked him. I enjoyed Special Report more when he was hosting it. Bret Baier isn’t bad, but Brit was better.
Bitter Clinger on February 15, 2013 at 10:32 PM
Anita Dunn is a moron…that much was certain a long time ago.
And to those complaining about Fox News, you do realize it’s the only network anywhere close to being on our side, right? Suggesting it’s becoming just another left wing outlet is ridiculous.
changer1701 on February 15, 2013 at 10:37 PM
Indeed. You can’t even compare Fox to MSNBC or CNN in terms of left-wing lunacy. Yes, Fox employes lefties like “Wrong” Williams and Beckel but that allows them to show some level of balance. MSNBC’s idea of balance is to throw Joe Scarborough out there.
Bitter Clinger on February 15, 2013 at 10:49 PM
Article says ratings went down across the board because of election fatigue, and disappointment. This should be obvious.
Ouch. It’s true, though. That sentence alone made some here all crampy.
Some people around here are not very in touch with reality. They expect every minute of Fox News’ day to be Sean Hannity arm waving and Krauthammer finger pointing.
Moesart on February 16, 2013 at 1:15 AM
I love the libtard use of “faux news”. It displays both their childish wit, their typical ad hominem attack, and their ignorance. In this case, that “faux” isn’t pronounced “fox” no matter how hard they wish it was.
FNC’s problem is that they have gotten lazy. They have no competition. CNN could have tried but they seem to be chasing MSNBC’s little audience. You don’t need to be good when the competition is gutter trash and not even trying to put up a fight. They know your choice is between them, tabloid liberal ranting, or nothing but the Internet. The Internet could clean all their clocks.
MechanicalBill on February 16, 2013 at 1:25 AM
Fox wastes the evening hours with BOR, Hannity, and Greta.
I would give anything to see one of them replaced with a thoughtful conservative who takes up a subject or two each night, invites some conservatives on the show to discuss a particular issue and a range of conservative solutions. I don’t need “fair and balanced,” because I already know the liberal solution will fail. I’d appreciate having the conservative guests point out the liberal position. But that’s it. I don’t need some liberal on the program wasting time making the argument for the program that will fail.
Dump Greta and put Red-Eye on at 10 EST. My 80-year-old mother loves Gutfeld and watches The Five largely because of him.
BuckeyeSam on February 16, 2013 at 5:28 AM
One thing is for sure…conservatives will eat their own like no one else. It won’t be the left or Obama that harms Fox News it will be conservatives. The only place on TV that we can get our message out and half of Hot Air can’t wait to throw them overboard.
Big Orange on February 16, 2013 at 6:30 AM
Fox news has moved to the left and their support of amnesty has clouded their reporting. Hopefully another news media comes along that again supports conservative ideals. Some might agree conservatives will eat their own but we have given so much for so long and achieved nothing for it. It is time to stand strong and do not accept a mediocre message being delivered.
trs on February 16, 2013 at 7:13 AM
Fox isn’t suffering at all in comparison to its competitors.
But BOR and Hannity are utterly insufferable. They get great viewing figures but they are every bit as bad as Mr. Ed and Chrissy Matthews.
CorporatePiggy on February 16, 2013 at 8:05 AM
The complaints around FOX center primarily around that it is getting harder and harder to get our message out via that medium. It’s still nominally Republican, but headlines like this do not inspire confidence: http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2013/02/07/the-gop-and-foxs-political-purge/
Ultimately if conservatives feel FOX isn’t getting the message out, they certainly have the right to criticize the channel and seek alternatives. This “eating our own” stuff is just a lazy way for the establishment to try to place themselves above criticism.
Doomberg on February 16, 2013 at 8:28 AM
Hannity “evolved” on amnesty 2 days after the election because owner Rupert Murdoch is a big open borders advocate. After said “evolution” Hannity lost 50% of his viewers. They’ve definitely moved to the left. Not saying they’re even close to MSNBC, but they’re NOT close to the positions they once took that made them popular with the base.
TxAnn56 on February 16, 2013 at 8:35 AM
ROFL….First off Palin left Fox news in dec. Fox news ratings went down once Palin left. Connection? Well they weren’t paying Palin 1 million/year for nothing.
Second Fox news ratings took a nose dive in late 2010 and early 2011 as Fox news kicked out Beck and wenton to attack the TEA party and its leaders at every turn.
third When foxnews became the head cheerleader for Mitt Romney their ratings went down further.
Ailes believed the hype that he made the GOP and it was his party. He thought he coul;d shape the party and the voters. Turns ouot most intelligent people who are conservative saw what was happening and quit watching foxnews. the sheep are still watching the channel for some reason.
unseen on February 16, 2013 at 9:02 AM
The problem I have with FOXnews is too many liberals and lefties. As if it is difficult to find out what they have to say about anything. Leftism is the sea we swim in, especially if you live in Obamaland.
I don’t need to hear more of it. Rather I try to escape it. And, frankly, I can predict what they will say about 99% of the time. Lefties and libs are pretty predictable.
All of which makes those two or three minute “debates” they have on FOXnews laughable. If FOXnews really wants to air both sides let some knowledgeable people spend a lot more time shredding the lefties’ arguments, such as they are, to pieces.
As it is, FOXnews is an inefficient use of my time for the purpose of keeping up with the news, and a complete waste of my time for the purpose of learning what the lefties have to say. I no longer even tune in to hear Krauthammer’s analysis. It is readily available elsewhere.
I’d like to lobby for a more in depth conservative news network, but I’m afraid it would become so thoroughly saturated with God-talk and religion promotion that A) I couldn’t watch it and B) it would help the lefties paint most conservatives as righteous religionists.
farsighted on February 16, 2013 at 9:15 AM
Good point. Which is why I get my news coverage, analysis, and commentary exclusively from the internet. The transition took many years, but now that it is complete looking back I wish I had expedited the process.
farsighted on February 16, 2013 at 9:21 AM
If I watch TV, I’ll be watching FNC or Fox Business until something better comes along.
petefrt on February 16, 2013 at 9:27 AM
That is the big plus FOXnews brings to the table. The token “conservatives” the likes of CNN and the other networks put on display are often hardly conservative at all. Their only purpose is to try to paint anyone to the right of them as an extremist. As if CNN is an authority on and can identify “reasonable” conservatives, as distinct from all of those right wing extremists.
farsighted on February 16, 2013 at 9:38 AM
I wonder if that Alinsky-ite would agree to submit to a drug test?
Zorro on February 16, 2013 at 9:38 AM
One constantly hears the cry “we need a network to compete with Fox News”, followed by the suggestion that the proposed new network, or the old tanking network, move left. That’s like announcing “we need to compete with McDonalds”, and then opening a franchise that serves chicken and waffles. Huh? Then they wonder why its not working.
The only way to effectively compete with Fox News is to offer a better, more informative, more entertaining version of a news station that takes conservatism seriously. Fox doesn’t do a particularly good job of it, but they are the only one out there, so they clean up. Its that simple.
If the idiots at CNN, for example, really wanted to make money, they would move right, and attempt to eat into Fox’s audience. That neither they, nor any other news outlet does so tells you all you need to know about their motives.
Fox is now suffering from from its own version of establishment disease – Republican establishment disease. Fox is softening along with the Repubican Party. This is leaving openings on the Right. Beck is now moving into that space, with some degree of success. I would not be surprised, however, to see a new Rupert Murdock come out of nowhere and hit the reset button.
Mr. Arkadin on February 16, 2013 at 9:39 AM
Hotair should study the lessons of foxnews. The editors should not decide what news is fit to print but should instead give their customers what they want.
unseen on February 16, 2013 at 9:41 AM
I think you have a very good point there.
Mr. Arkadin on February 16, 2013 at 9:42 AM
best way to tell when someone or some enterprise gets taken over by progressives is that profit becomes secondary to their vision. Foxnews ratings are falling. Alies and company knows that. they know what they must do to bring back ratings. they refuse to do that and move back to the right. Therefore one can surmise that profit is no longer the main driver of the decisions they are making. Their ideology is now trumpting sound business decisions. Therefore they have become more progressive.
unseen on February 16, 2013 at 9:45 AM