All Cable New channels ratings crash except Fox!

Yahoo news.com ^ | 1/1/03 | Craig Offman

[Pliney the younger]

CNN, Headline News, MSNBC and CNBC suffered double-digit drops in year-end ratings .Only Fox News, which has become THE PRIMETIME CABLE NEWS DESTINATION experienced significant growth in total-day and primetime versus 2001.

[antaresequity]

You know, when you boil it all down...it really doesnt matter what the actual numbers are...the only thing that matters is that the numbers either beat, meet, or fall short of expectations...

I trade commodities and equity contracts for a living...its the expectations that move markets and the like...

Everything else is already priced in...all of the big players knew this Christmas was gonna be ho hum...so its no big deal...

Unexpected windfalls, unrealized expections...thats what the pros are looking for...

[Wild Irish Rogue]

"However, why are you blaming Williams for his reporting"

Williams would not say-" Sales are down for mass retailers or toy stores, etc" which would be a statement of fact( or not,depending on your viewpoint).Instead, what Williams would say, was " Will the worst Christmas season in 30 years reflect poorly on President Bush " or the next night-" Will the fall out from the worst Christmas shopping season in 30 years dent the President's popularity?" The nexus was obviously that poor retail sales are Bush's fault. I do not agree that Republicans speak "in code" to southern whites,like you do.David Gregory ,after an intro by Williams on the "code", which you also subscribe to, was this- " Ronald Reagan embraced "states rights" during a 1980 stop to the town in Mississippi where three civil rights workers were murdered 16 years earlier." Here's what Reagan actually said, " What we have to do is bring back the recognition that the people of this country can solve its problems. I still believe the answer to any problem lies with the people. I believe in state's rights and I believe in people doing as much as they can for themselves at the community level and at the private level. I believe we have distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended to be given in the Constitution to that federal establishment." David Gregory and Williams,via his intro, were making an inference that is just not there. NBC's definition of controversial judges are those that Chuck Schumer does not approve of, like Pickering,because they don't pass the NAACP racial purity test. You can defend Brian Williams as a conservative anchor,but he didn't pass my test,by his on air behavior the past week. You also might want to rethink this statement-" Gee, get a dictionary before you go bizerk over "media bias."

[Dave S]

Dave, first there is NO "normal" growth rate for anything. That is Clintonesque---that we have defeated the business cycle.

Of course there are. Ask any economist. They are called averages: means, medians, modes. There is nothing Clintonesque about them. You know just enough to be stupid. This is not a repetition of cuts in planned budget expenditures being called a cut. That analogy holds only in YOUR mind.

Second, I call 1.5% in the midst of a war, the Venezuelan crisis, the Enron scandals, and 8 years of Clinton INCREDIBLY good. Third, yes, there are many people I know who would be happy with a 1.5% increase in sales or bonuses.

Yeah, and you call that 1.5% incredibly good because the Christmas season was so bad in comparison to past years.

[Dave S]

Instead, what Williams would say, was " Will the worst Christmas season in 30 years reflect poorly on President Bush " or the next night-" Will the fall out from the worst Christmas shopping season in 30 years dent the President's popularity?"

And did those questions cause you to answer of course, its Bush fault? No, of course not. Its not propaganda, its a headline created to draw in viewers. You make up your own mind. Why do you think everyone is so much dumber than you?If you get it, dont you think most others will too?

Ronald Reagan embraced "states rights" during a 1980 stop to the town in Mississippi where three civil rights workers were murdered 16 years earlier

First of all I dont think Reagan was racist, however, it was interesting that some of Reagan's campaign people decided to have him make his first appearance of his presidential campaign in a relatively obscure southern town where the three civil rights workers were murdered.

BTW, I never said Brian Williams was conservative but I do think he is fair and balanced. Much more so than Rather or Jennings.

[Hobo anonymous]

Did you also notice that Donahue went back to his talk show format rather than compete with O'Reilly's debate based program, which is actually based on factual information! Donahue seen the ratings and creamed his pants lol. Now he's back to his old ways just like back in the day just so he dont get yanked off the air. I can vaguely remember when Donahue was on the "No spin-zone". He just laid the propaganda on. Which goes to show he's a very opinionated person, whom has nothing better to do with his time except spy on who's getting into his trash cans.

[Itzlzha]

We were watching TV tonight to check out the local weather storm warnings, and the ABC news was on. Everything was Bush's fault, no matter what the subject. Even my husband mentioned it later.
I explained to him why the country refers to them and CNN, CBS, and NBC, as "the liberal news networks." He said he it sure looked like it! He noticed the bias in about 5 minutes!

I caught something today on FoxNews...it was the tape of ol' empty suit Edwards gladhanding...

He walked up to Mara Liasson, of NPR and Fox, and extended a hand. She was wearing a blue outfit, and holding a boom mike.

She took off the headphones and a BIG smile crossed her lips.

I can read lips, and what she said to Edwards was "I am a great follower of yours"!

Now, let her answer to the question "fair and balanced"....as in "who did YOU vote for?" next time she mouths off against Republicans or Bush!

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" Why do you think everyone is so much dumber than you?If you get it, dont you think most others will too?"

Why the personal attack? I have cited examples of how I believed Brian Williams was unfairly biased against the President for the past week. I have made no assumptions about other viewers being dumb nor cast aspersions on you. For the sake of a civil discussion,why not just make the case that Williams was in fact,far and balanced towards the President,by citing examples??

[Hobo anonymous]

Donahue=Incoherrent psycho babble aimed at his old female fans

[Sonny M]

I don't think this is so much a case of americans just dumping the left wing media because the left wing is full of it. I've talked to alot of friends, both liberals (who also watch FOX) to conservatives (Who also watch FOX). To almost everyone, it just seems that all the news networks sound, look and act and talk exactley the same. They see FOX news, and it gives them a different viewpoint. They also see more statistics, more sharper analysis and they feel that they can get both sides of an arguement from them. Its simple math. If half the country (lets be nice here) were split 50/50 conservative to liberal and there are say 6 news networks, 5 of them are liberal, and one is right of center, then your 50% liberal base is split, while your conservative base goes towards one channel, not to mention that the moderates will also naturally gravitate to the one thats just different since they can see the other viewpoint on any 5 networks, and they notice a difference on FOX.

[Dave S]

For the sake of a civil discussion,why not just make the case that Williams was in fact,far and balanced towards the President,by citing examples??

None of the examples you stated were biased. They were just questions and unless you do believe that viewers are too stupid to understand that, there is no bias.

[LS]

Funny, I know an economist who works at American Enterprise Institute. There is no such thing as "normal" growth. There are trends, but every trend depends on your starting point and ending point. How about "normal" for 1991-998? Or "normal" for 1999-2002? Or 1929-1935? No. There is no "normal." Medians and averages are snapshots of the past, but are in no way, ever, predictors of the future, because human behavior changes---in no small part in anticipation of breaking "normal" cycles.

[LS]

I agree that that expectations move markets. But expectations are guesses of what reality will be, not necessarily reality.

My point is that ALL the "gloomster" people here jump on the sightest bit of bad information, but any good information (and I consider this report a pretty significant report, as I do the constantly upward reports of U.S. productivity) they greet with "We can't trust the numbers." As always, I just want consistency. If we can't trust the numbers, then we can't trust all those bad numbers that people have been regurgitating for months. And if we CAN trust them, then these are pretty good numbers.

[mathluv]

Some of us like Fox & Friends! It is nice to start the day with laughter and fun! And they are #1 in the mornings on cable!

[mathluv]

You can book hotels online and check to be sure your hotel carries FNC by using the Fox News Channel Hotel Finder!

When I was on the road every week, any hotel without Fox ALWAYS got a complaint card filled out, requesting an upgrade to a system with Fox. Recently, I declined a stay at a Marriott, and told them it was because they did not have Fox. The reservationist said they had CNN, I said no thanks.

[mathluv]

I had done most of my shopping prior to Thanksgiving. I watch for bargains year round - 6 grandchildren makes this important.

I was in my local WalMart early one morning just before Christmas -last minute change in a gift. The manager came over the intercom complementing the staff for meeting their sales forecast. Some areas of the country may not have done as well as others. Around here it was much like any other.

[mathluv]

I saw a clip of Mara and Edwards. When she is on Brit's panel, she is obviously a liberal. She never pretends to be anything else.

Brit ROCKS!

[Dave S]

The manager came over the intercom complementing the staff for meeting their sales forecast.

But what kind of a Christmas season had they forecast. If they expected a poor season but made their low numbers, they made the forecast. Making the numbers in the plan doesnt mean the plan was built on rosy predictions.

Granted, your area of the country may be different. Your neighborhood may be different. I can remember back some ten years or so when most of the country was doing fine but Calilfornia was in major recession.

I think the economy is on rebound but I get fed up when people assume any mention of negative news by the media is an example of bias. When most retailers are complaining about poor results, when the retail stocks have been in the dumps on wallstreet, and when the economists come out and say it was a poor Christmas shopping season, Im not going to assume they are part of some liberal media conspiracy or that the reporters or Brian Williams made it all up.

[mathluv]

I agree with you. Dave S doesn't want to.