CNN was the trail blazer of cable news for so long it isnt funny but things sure have changed. I used to get all my news from CNN but over the last few years I've been watching Fox more and more and obviously a lot of other people have too. An associate and I were having a disagreement about cable news and he claimed Fox was "blowing away" CNN and I said "no way". He proceeded to give me this website that publishes the neilson ratings for cable TV shows. Well, I can tell you after looking that CNN seems to be in deep $hit. Maybe its been this way for a while because I've never paid attention to ratings but CNN is lagging way back of FOX and barely keeping in front of MSNBC. A few interesting stats of note: - 13 of the top 15 shows on cable news networks are FOX shows. - Larry King (who I always thought was the king of cable) is being obliterated by of all shows, Hannity & Combs. - "Fox & Friends First". the dreaded 5-6am morning slot, beats CNN's prime morning show (6-9am) in total viewers. The main "Fox & Friends" doubles CNN's "American Morning" in viewers. - MSNBC is right on CNN's a$$ in prime time ratings. In a couple time slots MSNBC is actually beating CNN's programming. (Paula Zahn sucks) - Bill O'Reilly's "re-run" show is the 7th highest rated show in cable news. Go figure! - Cable news shows have seen a huge soar in their popularity with enormous increases over last year in total viewers. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/default.asp http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/original/feb07ranker.pdf
Larry King is a good "Question asker". O'rielly is a great debater and his staff has him well prepared. He takes controversial issues on tête à tête.
I quit watching the news altogether. One less thing to worry about, not to mention I can get my news more accurately straight from the horse's mouth.
I'm much happier with a a better sense of well-being since I stopped watching the news. Even an ant would seem terrifying if magnified a 1000 fold. It's a business, that i don't buy anymore.
It does not surprise me that Fox is beating the suffings out of everyone. They have their slant on the news too, but at least they make an effort to give both sides.
The days of Cronkite are over. TV news these days panders to the demographics. Fox goes for conservatives, CBS goes for liberals, CNN and NBC try to go after everybody. BBC trys to be international instead of nationistic. Anybody who seriously wants to get the news must listen to more than one outlet. I watch CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and BBC mostly. Biased reporters like Lou Dobbs and Bill O'Reilly are completely full-o-chit and only push a narrow personal agenda, but they do make good points from time to time.
Yep, I agree completely. I think FoxNews' TV ratings dominance is more a reflection of how people get their news. The only people that still rely on TV for their news coverage are likely simpletons that like the tabloid feel of Fox.
