Posted on 04/26/2005 5:36:10 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
CBS' "Evening News," led by interim anchor Bob Schieffer, saw its lowest viewer tally on record last week, while the sprint for first in the evening news race remained incredibly close with 150,000 viewers separating NBC and ABC.
CBS' 6.1 million average nightly viewers last week was its lowest total since record-keeping started in 1987.
Meanwhile, NBC's Brian Williams held a hair-thin margin over a Peter Jennings-less ABC. The Peacock retained the overall lead, which it has kept for 42 straight weeks, but the two newscasts tied in the 25-54 demographic on which advertising is sold.
ABC's "World News Tonight" has been without the on-air presence of Peter Jennings for the past three weeks as he undergoes chemotherapy for lung cancer. Sources said Jennings has been in the ABC studios and contributing as managing editor of the newscast, but his voice is still too weak for him to return to the anchor chair.
Low ratings for "Evening News" are a setback for CBS, which had received plenty of critical acclaim for the Schieffer-led broadcast. Schieffer scored a notable scoop on the Minnesota school shooting story in his first week on the air, and the newscast showcased his conversational style via live Q&As with correspondents.
CBS has averaged a little more than 6.8 million viewers in Schieffer's first six weeks at the helmhelm, down 7% from the same period last year. NBC also was down 7% in the same period from last year, while ABC was flat.
"Our focus right now is on the content of the broadcast. We realize it will take time for the audience to respond to the changes we're making," said CBS NewsCBS News spokeswoman Donna Dees. "The journalism is strong, the spirit is fresh, and the initial reaction has been very positive."
In cable news, Fox News Channel showed a rare weakness, slipping 6% in total audience in April from the same period a year ago, while CNN gained 11% and MSNBC 7%.
Fox averaged 825,000 viewers in a month marked by the deaths of Pope John Paul II and Terry Schiavo, compared to 531,000 for CNN, 249,000 for MSNBC and 235,000 for CNN's Headline News.
Headline News appears to have ceded third place to MSNBC after a strong start and plenty of marketing power behind its revamped "Headline Prime" lineup.
In primetime, Fox was up 1% to 1.5 million viewers, led by a 25% increase for "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren," while CNN grew 6% in prime to 893,000, led by a 37% increase for "Anderson Cooper 360."
Excellent. Now lets just let the cats bury that turd!
Impossible! It was always low. Whether it was Kronkite claiming the Tet victory was a crushing defeat or CBS falsely claiming a baby dying of prematurity was dying of hunger or those fake but accurate memos, CBS never dissapointed in the utter, biased trash it spewed.
And that's the way it was.
shaka laka shaka laka
sweet.
What's the top rated show on Fox News Channel? O'Reilly? The top 3 are the Factor, H&C, and Shep, right? I think those shows combined might get 6 million viewers. Isn't that right?
My heart aches...
Good! I hate ABCNNBCBS!
Couldn't happen to a nicer network.
Cryin' here for See BS News. How the mighty have fallen.
Actually, I'm dancing in my chair. I'd like to see them totally rework their news to prevent a more balanced view and stop being the mouthpiece for the DNC, along with the other alphabets. Like that'll happen!
Pray for W and Our Troops
I see that one is your very own.
Nice work.
O'Reilly had a recording of Aaron Brown at the end of his broadcast, where he was making fun of Fox by saying something to the effect of Fox had spent two weeks about the removing of Christ from Christmas.
He said, and I quote, "Who cares about that? That's not news."
A classic example of why the MSM doesn't get it. They have dismissed us for years.
Perfect! You nailed it!
Good, let 'em. Nothing like the element of surprise.
They shot a hole in the bottom of their own boat to get Bush. Bush is STILL President and where are they?
So what underneath the Fox slip? Public getting a case of Jackson-itis?
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