Posted on 03/25/2003 3:39:39 PM PST by dangermouse
Fox News Keeps Wartime Coverage Lead
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
NEW YORK - The first Gulf War (news - web sites) established CNN as a television news outlet to be reckoned with. The second may be just as important for Fox News Channel's reputation.
Through the first five days of the war, Fox News Channel has averaged 4.16 million viewers each day to CNN's 3.74 million. Fox's audience was bigger when the war began March 19, and every day through Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research.
While Fox has been the top-rated cable news channel for more than a year, industry experts wondered whether that lead would hold during a big breaking news story. CNN overtook Fox, for example, on Feb. 1 when the space shuttle disintegrated.
Despite CNN's overwhelming advantage in reporting manpower, more Americans at least so far want to watch the war unfold on Fox.
"I think it's a pretty big surprise," said Erik Sorenson, MSNBC president, on Tuesday. Because of CNN's experience with the first Gulf War, "I think people thought CNN would win, at least in its early stages. One of the executives there said they would own the story, and I don't think they do."
CNN spokeswoman Christa Robinson downplayed Fox's ratings advantage, saying Nielsen shows that more people at least sample some of CNN's coverage during the day. Fox's ratings are higher because its viewers watch for a longer time.
CNN also draws viewers to its Headline News and has a greater presence overseas than Fox, Robinson said.
"We're perfectly comfortable having the biggest audience in the world," she said.
A Fox News Channel spokesman didn't return a call for comment.
Fox's war coverage tends to be more uplifting, emphasizing the positive and trying to beef up morale and national identity, said Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University.
The network usually maintains an American flag graphic on the upper left corner of its screen, and anchorman Shepard Smith wore a flag pin in his lapel on Tuesday.
Fox's fans seem to like the network's style more than the traditional news coverage of CNN, said Alex Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University.
The conservative ideology that drives its prime-time programming seems to be spreading more into its news coverage, he said.
"The Fox view is a useful one to have out there," Thompson said. "It's not as if they are hiding it or pretending that it's not there. You have three networks out there, they don't all have to be doing the same thing."
More viewers are watching war coverage with itchy fingers on their remotes, frequently shifting channels to find more action, Thompson said.
A survey released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that nearly four of every five people gave the press good marks for its war coverage. The survey found that people who agreed with the decision to go to war were happier with the coverage than those who disagreed.
During the busy first three months of the year, Fox's viewership has grown by 75 percent over the same period last year, Nielsen said. Fox and TNT are now tied for second behind Nickelodeon as the top-rated basic cable channel. CNN's audience has grown 53 percent year to year and MSNBC's 32 percent.
The war has provided a much-needed boost to MSNBC. The third-place cable network has averaged 1.76 million viewers for its war coverage.
MSNBC has played up its resources with the full NBC News team and, with NBC breaking into regular programming less frequently for war coverage, that has worked to MSNBC's advantage. MSNBC had 2.11 million viewers on Sunday, its best day since the war's start.
It dovetails with MSNBC's latest strategy, which is "to cover the news when it happens and analyze it when it's not happening," Sorenson said. The war is likely to delay the debut of former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's new prime-time show, he said.
CNN spokeswoman Christa Robinson downplayed Fox's ratings advantage, saying Nielsen shows that more people at least sample some of CNN's coverage during the day. Fox's ratings are higher because its viewers watch for a longer time.
She may have thought she was down playing it. What it says is that people click their remote to CNN and they're compelled to quickly leave. Whereas when they click their remote to Fox they're compelled to stay and watch.
Aren't all channels going to be required to do this 24/7 for live and newly-taped programs after a certain upcoming date?
I went to pubic scrool is da reson i cant spile so good. I knned som of dat afirmativ actshun.
I have not heard this anywhere. Can you tell me where you heard this and I'll look into it.
Keep emailing them. Bombard them. Ping everyone!
Here's what I sent:
I'm hoping you will bring attention to this to the higher ups of the news channel. Okay, I have been emailing Fox News for quite a while now asking and begging them to start close captioning their news coverage non-stop 24/7. I never got any kind of answer nor any action taken.
BUT....since the liberation of the Iraqis began, Fox News was the ONLY news channel to caption their news coverage 24/7, that is, UNTIL last night (3/25) at 11 pm. A bunch of us had emailed our thanks to Fox News for the non stop captioning and asking them to keep it up. Now, I feel like our emails went unheeded. I'm frustrated to no end. I don't know what else to do. I've tried calling to talk to a live person but always fail to do so.
Here's something that doesn't make any sense to me. Fox News is the top rated news network. MSNBC is DEAD last in the ratings. BUT MSNBC captions more than Fox News does. How can that be? You'd think Fox News would have the means and the money to provide 24/7 captioning. Just imagine Fox News being the only news channel to provide captioning 24/7, you would blow away the competition even more by drawing more deaf viewers. You see, The Weather Channel made news in deaf history by being the first and ONLY station to provide 24/7 captioning. It was advertised in the deaf newspapers all over the country. Fox News could break huge barriers in doing this. You all have been bold these last few years. Why not be a little bolder and venture a little further by providing 24/7 captioning?
Fair and Balanced? Yes as far as the news reporting and No as far as captioning.
We Report and You Decide? How the heck can we decide if the news is not captioned full-time?
Maybe it's time for Fox News to live up to its slogans.
Operation Iraqi Freedom is very important to many of us and we're simply unable to keep up with it without nonstop captioning.
I would recommend that when (not if) Fox News does provide 24/7, that you all advertise it like crazy on air. You will definitely gain deaf viewers. Don't let them be stuck to watching MSNBC or CNN.
Thank you,
xxxxx xxxxx
Knoxville, Tn
C'mon everyone. Help out a fellow FReeper. Thanks!!
I only "sample" it when FNC is on commercial break or repeating something I've seen before.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ping list.
It's over for CNN here in the US, and I'm loving it.
WE LOVE YOU COL. DAVID HUNT.
-PJ
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