Posted on 02/06/2008 5:47:19 PM PST by Biblebelter
CABLE NEWS RACE
SUPER TUES. 6 PM-1 AM ET
CNN 3,054,000
FOXNEWS 2,644,000
MSNBC 1,722,000
Laurie really blew it with all of the cosmetic surgery. It was bad enough when she only had the bobbed nose and inflated lips, but her recent face (or eye) lift has given her "praying mantis" eyes.
What a shame. I bet she would be 10 times prettier without all of the crap she has done to her face.
I watched CNN also and that is something I never do. I don’t Fox anymore. I get my news from the net.
Britt’s commend that MN was a “small consolation prize” for Romney was nasty and uncalled for. I caught that one and turned him off for good.
Fox has been in the tank for McCain and Huckster from the beginning. Fred Barnes is a goofball and I can’t stand him anymore.
The British tabloids refer to women who have had their lips dones as having "trout pout". Of course the British should know something about that as Mick Jagger was evidently born with "trout pout".
You are so right, Fox has become simply unwatchable. They will suffer much lower ratings, due to their decision to turn Left. Those actually on the Left will not watch Fox, hell, the Dem candidates have declared that Fox is too far Right to have them debate.
MOgirl
I guess when the news came out last year that Murdoch was throwing that fundraiser (perhaps more than one?) for Hillary, the shift was inevitable. Savage warned us about this relationship multiple times. Yeah, Savage aka Wiener can be a bit much to handle, but when he’s right, he’s dead-on accurate.
Yes - Hollywood produces what it wants. I took great satisfaction that all the anti-military films that came out this year flopped at the box office.
I knew Sawyer worded for Nixon. I always liked her - she has 10 times the charm of someone like Katie Couric, Baba Wawa, or any other banshee on The View.
You can just "tell" when interacts on camera that she still has some of the Kentucky girl charm.
Note that CNN pulled ahead sharply starting at 7 pm, when the polls closed and the first hard numbers started coming in. I'd expect to see that continue in the rest of the primaries and the general election.
Aside from the question of bias, the stated goal of Fox News was to bring the talk radio model to television. That's entertaining, even informative, and it's good for ratings. CNN consistently draws more viewers at some point in each day, but FNC usually wins in the ratings because they keep viewers around longer. But when viewers want straightforward facts fast, they're more likely to trust a more traditional style of newscast.
I also strongly suspect that CNN benefitted more than FNC from the reduced coverage on the Big 4 broadcast networks.
the stated goal of Fox News was to bring the talk radio model to television.
That is an interesting statement of fact. I would like to explore the statement a little more. It seems to be fair to say that the talk radio model works better for conservatives than liberals. And certainly during the ascent of Fox News, it was perceived as conservative, and no group was more instrumental in keeping that perception going than the Democrat Party and the MSM. But Mr. Ailes and Fox may have trouble sustaining the incredible success that they have had. The talk radio model that has served them well is based on in studio static shots of talking heads. In the age we live in, I am not sure that that can be sustained. Not only visually is it tired, it places a lot of importance on the ability of the talking heads to hold the viewer's attention. There-in lies the problem for Fox News, they are relying on a format which is not fresh and a group of talking heads that are appearing very tired. What is more, the edge that they had of being perceived as conservative may still be held by the Democrat Party but that is not their viewership. Among the conservatives on this forum, Fox is not perceived as it typically was a few years ago. The perception here is, that Fox has succeeded in becoming very very MSM.
I think this really began back during the amnesty debate, when you had Fred and Mort basically calling us opposed racists.
That is an interesting statement of fact. I would like to explore the statement a little more.
My recollection is that Roger Ailes said that around the time of the launch, but I can't find an authoritative source. My memory may be faulty; it might have been outside observers who reached that conclusion.
It seems to be fair to say that the talk radio model works better for conservatives than liberals. And certainly during the ascent of Fox News, it was perceived as conservative, and no group was more instrumental in keeping that perception going than the Democrat Party and the MSM.
There is a well-established perception -- partly true, IMHO, but also widely exaggerated -- of a left-wing bias in the MSM. So when Rush Limbaugh came along, then Fox News, they were seen as a breath of fresh air, and a haven for conservatives. Especially younger conservatives -- they're both fast-paced, intense, and in the case of Fox News, intensely visual. Folks who don't believe that the MSM has a liberal bias, or who believe that it does but don't mind it, were spread out among several different news sources. Rush and FNC found a niche and then expanded their audience beyond it.
But Mr. Ailes and Fox may have trouble sustaining the incredible success that they have had.
That happens to a lot of companies. It is difficult to create a new market, and even harder to hold and control it. AOL brought easy-to-use internet access to the masses, but was outpaced by its competitors. Apple made desktop computers feasible, but now has only a sliver of the market (though they're still a financialy strong company and making better stuff than ever). Ford invented mass-market automobiles, and they're on the ropes. Motorola invented the cellular phone, and now their market position is slipping. A number of the newspapers that helped invent the modern mass media have already shuttered their doors, and others are on the brink.
In part, I think Fox has become a victim of its own success. Its skyrocketing audience growth forced other TV outlets, particularly CNN, to adjust, and they have. Not to mention that six years of a Republican administration and Congress took some of the fire out of the belly -- the sort of camaraderie that marks a small group standing against the establishment tends to fade when you become the establishment. More so among the audience than among the broadcast team.It's harder to rail against the "mainstream media" when you're the top-rated news network, the top-rated entertainment network, and the top-rated radio show in the country -- if that's not mainstream, what is?
To take the analogy beyond business, it's always a tough transition to go from being the rebels to being the rulers. It's summarized in the movie "The Candidate" -- Robert Redford, as a liberal Senate candidate, is running against a long-time Establishment Republican incumbent. At the end of the movie, after giving his victory speech, he turns to his campaign manager and says, "now what?"
The talk radio model that has served them well is based on in studio static shots of talking heads. In the age we live in, I am not sure that that can be sustained. Not only visually is it tired, it places a lot of importance on the ability of the talking heads to hold the viewer's attention.
The other side of that balance is that the other broadcasters have copied the Fox News format, so aside from getting stale, it doesn't stand out as much any more. Fox pioneered playing on its hosts' personalities, while CNN insisted that "the news is the star" and eschewed celebrity anchors. Look at the CN lineup now: The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Anderson Cooper 360 ... the news is no longer the only "star," if it's even the main one. Even Headline News scrapped the format it had kept for 20 years to make room for Glenn Beck and Nancy Grace.
I agree. They all come from the Bill Crystal jello mold.
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