Power Line News

peachyboy: “Close to a million people watch Olberman’s show ...”

The Last Ratings ...

I saw were more like HALF that per night - when nothing else is on.

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Does the number of people watching have some correlation with the value or integrity of the show?

Last Friday night, both O’Reilly and Keef were off, and their shows had substitute hosts. Rachel Maddow did the honors for Keef, and E.D. Hill for O’Reilly.

Keef’s show-without Keef-actually beat O’Reilly’s show without O’Reilly. Wonder how Keef is reacting to that?

Even then, FNC won the night overall.

BTW, a poster here said Keef’s show had a viewing audience of 1 million a night. But his important 25-54 demos are much lower than that.

vladimir estragon - 20 May 2008 01:56 PM

Does the number of people watching have some correlation with the value or integrity of the show?

In non news shows last week, “Dancing with the Stars” came in #1. Does that answer your question?

In non news shows last week, “Dancing with the Stars” came in #1. Does that answer your question?

It’s a start.

If Bill O’Reilly gets twice as many viewers as Keith Olbermann, what does this demonstrate?

vladimir estragon - 20 May 2008 04:03 PM

In non news shows last week, “Dancing with the Stars” came in #1. Does that answer your question?

It’s a start.

If Bill O’Reilly gets twice as many viewers as Keith Olbermann, what does this demonstrate?

Gee, it could be that maybe O’Reilly has better guests?

He’s added a weekly (Monday) regular, Texas’ Kinky Friedman. Kinky is pro-public education and pro-alternative energy, so can’t be considered a “conservative” by any means. His political analysis has been quite good. BTW, he’s going to run for Governor of Texas in 2010 as a Democrat.

It’s also interesting to note that despite their earlier statements that they would “never” appear on Faux News, many Democrats have recently done just that. So far the only one who hasn’t has been Barry Obama.

Here’s some interesting comments about another O’Reilly regular from a certified BDS sufferer:

“In 2006, Princeton University history professor Sean Wilentz wrote a cover story for Rolling Stone titled: “The Worst President in History?”

The accompanying headline said: “One of America’s leading historians assesses George W. Bush.” Also featuring a drawing depicting Bush wearing an elaborate dunce cap, Rolling Stone implied that the question was rhetorical and the punctuation mark unnecessary.”

Here’s what Wilentz said in a new interview with CBS MarketWatch’s Jon Friedman:

(Friedman) “I was curious if Wilentz believed that political correspondents deserved to be fitted with dunce caps of their own by now. He’s an avid supporter of Clinton, whose staff has blasted much of the coverage. So, I took a New Jersey Transit train down to Princeton to interview him.

I was pleased to learn that Wilentz thought the media deserved some credit.

He said the best coverage by far came from the Fox News Channel. Wilentz observed that Karl Rove, contributor to Fox News and architect of Bush’s two successful presidential campaigns, among others, had sounded “very, very knowledgeable.”

“What it showed is that the reporting of politics doesn’t have to be bad,” Wilentz said. “If you respect your audience without a partisan imperative, then you can have some sophisticated reporting.”

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid={ADEAB950-B32F-48BD-A34E-796AE86F8F47}&siteid=rss

Fascinating.

So then if Katie Couric - who’s doing pretty poorly - has twice as many viewers as Bill O’Reilly, what does that demonstrate?

(Laughter)

Nice try.

Invalid and irrelevant comparison, as Couric is on C-BS, which is an over-the-air broadcast network. O’Reilly is not. He’s only available on cable and satellite.

And there are still millions of viewers who get their news by over-the-air channels like C-BS. Not everyone has cable, and not everyone has a dish. For example, in my neighborhood in central New Hampshire, even though I am less than a mile as the crow flies from a busy Interstate highway and the major state east-west highway, we have never been wired for cable, despite the fact that the town has had cable service for 35 years.

Why? Because the minimum lot size in my part of town is 10 acres. So despite the fact that the average real estate value where I live is $300,000 or more, the company refuses to wire us, because there simply are not enough houses per road-mile to make it economically feasible. Until the first DirecTV systems came out 13 years ago, we were all forced to use rooftop antennas and rotors, and many here still do.

(Laughter)

Nice try.

Invalid and irrelevant comparison, as Couric is on C-BS, which is an over-the-air broadcast network. O’Reilly is not. He’s only available on cable and satellite.

Well over half the TVs in this country are connected to a cable box. So why does Katie Couric get more than twice as many viewers as Bill O’Reilly? Valid and relevant.

And has it ever struck you that cable television, which was developed to provide programming to rural people outside of the reach of airwave/antenna broadcasts, is today not generally available to rural people outside of the reach of airwave/antenna broadcasts?

vladdy as usual ...

Tries to defend the indefensible.

Katy Couric is on CBS, “The Tiffany Network” that many old people still watch,

Many elderly people are NOT hooked up to cable or dish or given the expense,

Those same people are not Internet hooked-up and / or savvy.

Rural elderly folks are at the biggest disadvantage.

Just one look at Couric’s demographics and that should tell a rational person just who is watching that garbage and when.

Bill O’Reilly is a COMMENTATOR - straight up - he KNOWS that, he ADMITS that.  Couric is a “journalist” who has the top news spot at an age-old network.

Apples ‘n Oranges.

BTW ...

O’Reilly has 4-5 times the cable viewers that Dundermann has.

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Tries to defend the indefensible.

Huh? Who was I defending, Roy?