AP Photo Evan Agostini
The Glenn Beck show on Fox News has earned the second highest ratings, according to October 2009 Cable News Ratings released on October 26th. Just last week, however, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) told Ed Schultz of MSNBC's The Ed Show that "Fox News and their Republican collaborators are the enemy of America" and that "99 percent of all Americans "have the good sense to ignore" Fox News altogether. Grayson went on to contend that Fox News and their ilk are the "enemy of peace". And, he didn't end it there-- Grayson's final conclusion-- well, "They ARE the enemy", he said.
Evidently, what is being described as the enemy of America is also ranked most popular in America, rendered thus by what must be its very own foe: the American people. And it is these same enemy-loving-enemies who must be responsible for Glenn Beck's enormous popularity, as well.
On Monday, Reuters columnist, Bernd Debusmann, attributed Glenn Beck's success to "shock value", arguing that Beck and other news commentators do not properly consider the "context" of their statements.
Debusmann linked his reporting of Glenn Beck's dramatic increase in ratings with what has been deemed by some as one of Beck's most controversial statements:
"The shows by Fox’s top conservative commentators all showed steep increases, but none more than Glenn Beck (up almost 90 percent), who said of Obama on a Fox show in July: “This president has exposed himself as a guy, over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people and white culture.”
In another October 26 article on Huffington Post entitled, CNN Falls to Last Place in Primetime Demo, the full breakdown of cable news show ratings is presented:
"Fox News took the top 13 programs in all of cable news, with "The O'Reilly Factor" on top for the 107th consecutive month. O'Reilly averaged 3,389,000 total viewers; "Glenn Beck" (2,748,000), "Hannity" (2,374,000), "Special Report with Bret Baier" (2,248,000), and "Fox Report with Shepard Smith" (1,989,000) rounded out the top five." (Read more at Huffington Post)
October Cable News Total Viewers Program Ranker Live SD -
Comments
Still not even close to prime-time entertainment on the broadcast networks. And check '60 Minutes' numbers!
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co. for Oct. 12-18; per million viewers:
1. "NCIS," CBS, 21.04
2. NFL Sunday Night Football: Chicago at Atlanta, NBC, 18.17
3. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 16.79
4. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 15.38
5. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 15.38
6. "The Mentalist," CBS, 15.08
7. "60 Minutes," CBS, 14.32
8. "Two And a Half Men," CBS, 14.17
9. "Dancing With the Stars Results," ABC, 13.96
10. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 13.92
11. "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 13.79
12. "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 13.68
13. "House," Fox, 13.5
14. "CSI: New York," CBS, 13.4
15. "CSI: Miami," CBS, 13.27
16. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 13.07
17. "The Good Wife," CBS, 12.98
18. "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 12.0
19. "Survivor: Samoa," CBS, 11.78
20. "The Amazing Race 15," CBS, 10.92
And your point is?
I sure hope that all of these shows do better than cable news... since EVERYONE has access to those not just cable subscribers...
60 minutes is still a quality show most of the time, and a staple of US TV.
But more than 90 percent of homes now have cable, satellite or another alternative to broadcast only.
The point is twofold: 1) In the prime-time time slots being measured, all four cable news networks combined have only a small fraction of the audience of the broadcast networks. 2) The cable 'news' programs dominating prime-time are not NEWS by their own admissions - they are opinion/entertainment shows.
The only actual news program in prime-time, Anderson Cooper 360, gets clobbered - simply proving that prime-time viewers are generally looking for entertainment, not information.
This one's for you Mr. Grayson. Are you a communist? Cause you sure sound like one. I think you're left of Mao, Hitler, Stalin,
Amin, Chavez and Castro just to name a few. Oops, I didn't mean to insult your friends. Yeah I did! You and your ilk ARE THE ENEMY of this country. Oh sorry, I forgot to mention another enemy of this country. OBAMA. And for all of you with buyers remorse don't cry too hard the elections are RIGHT around the corner! GO BECK!
James, FOX News is generally offered in what is known as "premium basic" or "basic plus," packaging, the highest cost plan before you get into buying HBO, etc. It is not automatically available simply because one has satellite or cable service.
You must be a Time Warner customer, DRH. DirectTV and Dish both include it in their lowest price packages and most cable providers do as well.
Time Warner is a somewhat special case, being the parent of CNN - and the legacy of the Turner - Murdoch food fight in the 1990s.
But if you get Time Warner's Family Choice Tier, you get ONLY HLN - not Fox, not CNN and not MSNBC. (At least, that was the case about a year ago - I haven't checked lately.)
The ratings dont say anything about why Fox is on top. Fat white Republicans do nothing but watch TV so of course Fox is going to have higher ratings while Democrats are out trying to make a living.
Beware of extremists. Being far right or left just shows a lack of understanding of the situation. Things in our world are so much more complicated than such narrow definitions. I know you all have passion for your positions...but temper your words and deeds with compassion for your brothers and sisters. You may just be part of the problem, my friend. Only showing the same love for your enemies that you have for your friends will save us. Anything else drives you further away from your goals and in the end your humanity. Much is at stake...think carefully before throwing stones. Please...love is the only answer.
Truthsayer...You are right, but the reason Republicans have the time to watch is because they OWN the businesses for which all the Dems work. You should show a bit more gratitude for your job. If it weren't for the Republicans investing their resources in the car wash where you have to work your skinny ass to death, you would not have a job.
Hey truthsayer, you are a little misguided, but its ok try again next time.
But according to Fox News Channel themselves, only 9 hours of their daily programming is actually news. The rest is punditry, which is just a form of entertainment - no different than "Dancing With the Stars". The reason Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly or on the other end of the political spectrum, Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow, are popular is that they say outrageous, partisan things that mislead and manipulate their true-believers, and anger viewers who think about what they hear.
Additionally, Rupert Murdoch has said that by being so antagonistic towards Pres. Obama, Fox's ratings have soared. He has said that as long as this tactic works, Fox will continue to oppose the President in everything.
To DRH - Fox News is offered on most basic cable packages along with CNN, MSNBC, Headline News, etc. You must have the one and only provider who doesn't include it in their basic pkg. They are hardly a "premium" network.
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