[Rutles4Ever]

This could get interesting. Sayonara, Dan.

[Mo1]

Wonder when Danny will be retiring?

[TomGuy]

Boortz reading some report that viewer comments/complaints are running 6 to 1 against Dan Rather and CBS Execs are under pressure to resolve the situation.

[biblewonk]

Now this is cool.

[solo gringo]

If i were a democrat and i can assure i am not but they have to be embarrassed about the lies that and hate that is being put out there against Bush in their name.

[PianoMan]

Anyone - what are the numbers for Brit Hume Special Report? How close are we to Brit overtaking Dan???

[Robert357]

You have to put this in context. "CBS-News" has a revolt on its hands and bad ratings aren't going to help. Ratings equal advertising revenues, which means ViaCom & CBS Corporate willingness to go along with the CBS News division. The President of CBS News has to do something quickly to resolve this or he and Dan and a bunch of others are toast.

CBS Affilicates dropping CBS News broadcasts-link

CBS Houston Radio Affiliate drops CBS News broadcasts-link

Now add to this revolt the underlying ratings problem that has recently sufaced at CBS News, you have a "managment problem" that requires CBS/ViaCom action. Hence the President of CBS News making public statements.

The following is the summary of the RNC network news ratings...

NBC ranked second on both Tuesday and Wednesday, with 5.1 million and 4.5 million viewers, respectively. CBS fell from 4.4 million on Tuesday to a lowly 2.6 million on Wednesday, suffering from a weak "lead-in" from the Latin Grammy Awards an hour earlier.

ABC fell from 4.3 million to 3.3 million one night to the next, while cable networks MSNBC and CNN also lost viewers, each dipping from more than 1.5 million to about 1.2 million. MSNBC finished both nights slightly ahead of CNN.

The Fox victory was believed to be the first time a cable channel has attracted more viewers than any of the three major broadcasters during an event covered by all the networks, the News Corp.-owned outlet said.

Broadcast network executives grumbled privately that Fox's triumph was no surprise given the cable channel's reputation as a conservative-leaning outlet favored by the Republican Party. One network official who spoke on condition of anonymity called the Republican National Convention a "made-for-Fox event."

Click-Fox News beats all rivals at GOP ratings (beats ABC/CBS combined, NBC/MSNBC combined)

FOX NEWS beats all networks in ratings last night including ABC, NBC, CBS

And now for a trip down memory lane....Remember when the DNC tried to block the electronic media from airing Swift Boat Vet ads? This is the threats their attorneys made to the media about airing false information......

Click to link to article on DNC attorney treats to media re Swift Boat Vet ads

Dems can never stand for anything.

[hispanarepublicana]

aaaaarrghhhhh!
WHY didn't Drudge cover what happened last night?! CBS 60 Minutes II was BLACKED OUT in Augusta, Corpus Christi, Duluth, Kansas City, Roanoke, Lubbock, Monroe, and still counting....

[Chad Fairbanks]

Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark!

[sargon]

Money talks, and bullsh-- walks...

[SunkenCiv]

At times, there's nothing scarier than the truth. This is one of those times. Had CBS been aware of the phenomenon, they wouldn't have been confronted by it in such a convincing fashion. Dan will have to be suspended pending an investigation, or bow out as gracefully as his "no apologies necessary" stance will permit. If I ran CBS, I'd have fired his ass, and told the new anchor to read the termination and the reasons for it as the lead story.

George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent

[Grampa Dave]

Great Data!

"And in the nation's top market, New York, Rather finished not only behind NBC NIGHTLY NEWS and ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT -- but also pulled less audience than reruns of the SIMPSONS, WILL & GRACE and KING OF QUEENS.

"Rather finished dead last in New York during the 6:30 pm timeslot among all broadcast channels tracked by NIELSEN on Tuesday.'

This should eliminate most of the advertisers for Blather.
Any company advertising with this low market shares at premium prices should be turned into the SEC for wasting corporate funds.

I will link this thread to the Ad Boycott thread. This should be sent to the board of every advertiser of anything Blather appears on.

[Law is not justice but process]

"Rightly or wrongly, we're being perceived as 'anti-Bush,' which I do not think is fair to Dan, who is a fine journalist..."

I agree with the part about Rather being perceived as he is, Anti-Bush, but the rest of that statement can only be true if your definition of "journalist" is "partisan hack!"

[Casloy]

Rather pulled a 2.6 rating/5 share on Tuesday night against ABC's 13.3 rating/23 share and NBC's 4.0/7.

And ABC is the only network going after Rather. Coincidence? I think not. In any case, this will hit CBS where it really counts. Dan is history. What a wonderful way for this dirtbag to end his career.

[BillyCrockett]

You know of course that John Roberts will be just another Rather clone? The USS C-BS will just continue to sink long after Dan is settled on his island, somewhere that no "biased" reporter could find him.

[cyclotic]

I just sent an e-mail to our local CBS radio affiliate. Rather does regular radio newscasts. I asked them to disaffiliate themselves with CBS until Rather is fired.

Here is my response in its entirety.

"Coming Soon!"

Wow. I don't know if this is a precursor to the imminent demise of Rather or if their formal response is coming soon. The ! is what got my attention.

[RightOnline]

Ohfercryinoutloud, CBS..........even my kids know there are consequences to your actions.

Your golden boy anchor shows bogus documents that you guys should have spotted from the get-go as fakes, near the end of an election cycle, purely to smear and attempt to unseat a sitting US President whose family he happens to despise (it's visceral with him; you can tell). Then..........you expect us to prove they aren't fakes?????? Then..........you "stand by" this fraud and can't understand why we don't buy it?????? Now your boy says that it's not whether the docs are fraudlulent or not, but it's what is IN these fraudulent documents that is "true" and should be responded to by the White House????????????????????????????

Reap it, CBS. Good riddance, kids.

[Fiddlstix]

......Rightly or wrongly, we're being perceived as 'anti-Bush,' which I do not think is fair to Dan, who is a fine journalist....

CHOKE! GAG! BARF!

(This guy should be writing for The Onion)

[Leroy S. Mort]

"Rightly or wrongly, we're being perceived as 'anti-Bush,' which I do not think is fair to Dan,

By all means, we MUST be fair to Dan.

[martin_fierro]

And in the nation's top market, New York, Rather finished not only behind NBC NIGHTLY NEWS and ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT -- but also pulled less audience than reruns of the SIMPSONS, WILL & GRACE and KING OF QUEENS.

Dan, when you're beaten in the ratings by Kent Brockman...

... YOU'RE DONE.

[petercooper]

Ever get the feeling Rush is a FReeper- the way he always says-- "I was online last night, talking to people, emailing back and forth, and we've come up with the following...."

hmmmm