XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU SEPT 16, 2004 11:42:09 ET XXXXX
CBS EXECS CONCERN OVER VIEWERSHIP PLUNGE; RATHER RATINGS FADE IN MAJOR MARKETS
CBS executives on both coasts have become concerned in recent days that Dan Rather's EVENING NEWS broadcast has plunged in the ratings since the anchor presented questionable documents about Bush's National Guard service.
NIELSEN numbers released this week show Rather fading and trailing his rivals in every Top 10 city, other than San Francisco, with audience margins in some cities running more than 6 to 1 against CBS!
Executives fear many voters inclined to vote for Bush are now switching off Rather.
"The audience appears to becoming polarized," a top CBS source said from LOS ANGELES on Thursday. "Rightly or wrongly, we're being perceived as 'anti-Bush,' which I do not think is fair to Dan, who is a fine journalist... of course we do not like to see the ratings coming back the way they are this week."
In Philadelphia, the nation's #4 market, 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.
In Chicago, Rather hit a 2.3/5 to ABC's 9.2/20.
CBS trailed ABC by more than 2 to 1 in Los Angeles.
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.
Developing...
Less than the Simpsons. .....ROTFLMAO!!!!
This will be today's story.
Well, when you put forth forgeries as credible evidence to use against a sitting President in a Presidential campaign, we suspect BIAS against our President!!!
I haven't watched CBS news in a long time. I suspect while Bush supporters may be turning it off, it far more likely "neutral" viewers are the ones responsible for the decline. They don't like major media organizations lying to them.