The 2 million MORE people who watch "This Week" over Fox News Sunday. This week almost triples the viewership of Fox News Sunday.
Thats a good thing.....
Those numbers don’t include the audience for the Sunday afternoon rebroadcast of Fox News Sunday on the Fox News Channel. In fact, the rebroadcast on FNC pulls in almost as many viewers as the first airing on the Fox Broadcast Network. So, FNS actually attracts more than 2 million viewers a week, broadcast and cable. And, using that same criteria, “Meet the Press” easily beats “This Week” because the ABC program doesn’t have a cable outlet.
And that’s the real bottom line. ABC can crow about the Sunday morning numbers, but they’re only a fraction of what David Brinkley and Co. used to pull in the 80s and 90s. The future of “network” news is in cable, not the broadcast networks, and Fox is setting the pace. FNC is on pace to generate $700 million in profits this year, while ABC News is laying off 20% of its workforce.
As the broadcast audience continues to erode, Sunday interview shows will reach the point of no return, i.e., they won’t attract enough viewers to break even, let along turn a profit. Before that happens, Fox News Sunday will move exclusively to cable (as will Meet the Press), while “This Week” and “Face the Nation” will be relegated to the dustbin of TV history.
And Christiane Amanpour will help expedite the process.