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Fox News O'Reilly vs MSNBC Olbermann TV battle ending?
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According to MediaBistro, Fox News keeps leading in the ratings month after month, beating out CNN and MSNBC combined. It is also showing the most growth in the younger demo. Since July '08, FNC is up 48% in the total day 25-54 age group and 70% in prime time.
The winners are:
- "The O'Reilly Factor up" 37% over July '08 (#1 for 104 consecutive months.)
- "Glenn Beck" up 120% over last year
- "On the Record with Great Van Sustern" up 60%
- "Hannity" up 41%
Among basic cable networks,
- FNC ranked third in prime time (after USA Network and TNT)
- CNN ranked 15th
- MSNBC ranked 26th
Although MSNBC ratings were higher during the presidential campaign, they have slumped badly, especially those of Keith Olbermann. The hallmark of his program was attacking Bill O'Reilly but that began to boomerange because as "The Factor" ratings went up, Olbermann's went down.
Now it appears that the feud between Olbermann and O'Reilly has been cooled down by their bosses. According to the New York Times, when O'Reilly started attacking General Electric, the parent company of MSNBC, as doing business with Iran , it continued as the fiercest media feud of the decade.
It took fellow TV personality Charlie Rose to become the intermediater between the heads of the two news corporations, Jeffrey Immeld, Chairman of G.E. and his counterpart at the News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch. Even though the fueled had increased audiences for both O'Reilly and Olbermann, a cease-fire was arranged. So in June, the combat appears to have ended. However, Olbermann says he was not part of the conversations between the two station owners.
The issue that seems to have brought the issue to a head was something that happened in 2007. Jesse Watters asked Mr. Immelt about G.E.'s doing business with Iran, selling them medical technology. When O'Reilly brought that to the attention of his TV audience, it caught the attention of his audience who sent scathing e-mail to G.E., although the corporation says they no longer do business with the regime.
There is still tension between the two networks, but it remains a little quieter, with occasional barbs between the two men. It is to be seen how it effects their ratings.
Sources:
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/july_ratings_fox_news_beats_msnbc_cnn_combined_in_total_day_and_prime_122858.asp#more
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/business/media/01feud.html
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