Maybe obsessing over impeachment was a slight miscalculation.
The past couple of weeks it has been tough on the DNC public relations outfits known as CNN and MSNBC. The House of Representative just voted for impeachment of President Trump, but in the weeks leading up to this momentous occasion you can see that all is not well in those wellsprings of contempt.
The polls have shown a growing distaste for the attack on the presidency and there is another stark indicator of voter resentment for the cause. Both of the loudspeakers for the Democrats have been getting throttled in the ratings.
Just don’t tell them that. Jeff Zucker, President of CNN, must pay Brian Stelter a ”Blowing Smoke Bonus”. Behold–
A quick fact-check of Trump's false claim about cable news… He said MSNBC and CNN "are watching their ratings tank…" Cable #'s have actually been quite stable this year pic.twitter.com/yn4ZtlBYRJ
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 16, 2019
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It is so cute when they try to pull a fast one on themselves like that!
What Brian is trying to do here is come up with some metrics that will be palpable, and make Trump out to be a liar. He uses some total-year formula to say things have been quite stable. Well, if you have hit rock bottom, I suppose you can get away with calling things ”stable”.
The facts are, since the Mueller Report was revealed to be a significantly-sized sesame seed bun with nary a shred of beef inside, the ratings for CNN and MSNBC have plummeted. But more significantly since the impeachment inquiry flared up the two networks have worked overtime to push the narrative. In October it was exposed that Jeff Zucker wanted to steer his network into a heavy impeachment narrative cycle.
The result — viewers are fleeing.
During much of the coverage of the inquiry itself Fox News led even the major networks in ratings for the affair.
Fox News was the most-watched network for day 4 coverage of the public impeachment hearings. FNC has averaged the largest total audience all 4 days of the public hearings. NBC was No. 1 on day 4 among Adults 25-54, the category preferred by advertisers. https://t.co/39xo0xUFpp pic.twitter.com/hIjvaxzvaH
— TVNewser (@tvnewser) November 21, 2019
Thanksgiving week there were mordant figures for the news nets, but you can chalk that up to the holiday if you wanted to make excuses (ahem, right Brian?) So looking over the past 2 weeks, when impeachment was supposedly hitting its stride, what do we see?
On the week of December 2 Fox News was #1 in all cable channels, both in total day and in primetime. All three Fox primetime shows – Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Ingraham Angle – led in their timeslots. One notable move was Rachael Maddow dropping enough that she was edged out by the Fox show The Five in consecutive weeks. There was very little for Brian Stelter to see as a positive regarding his network. It would only get worse.
For last week the numbers are just dismal for anyone not named Fox News. In primetime it leads ALL channels, doubles the numbers of its two competitors, and in total day average is the only network over 1 million. In primetime Fox was #1, beating out ESPN. MSNBC came in behind The Hallmark Channel. And CNN? out of the top-10! It was beaten by HGTV, FreeForm, The History Channel, and even a second Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
If Brian Stelter truly wanted to discuss the ratings on his network — and believe us, he does not — then we can peer at the year-over-year figures. For the same week from 2018 to 2019 CNN dropped a massive -17% in primetime viewership, and -13% in total day average. MSNBC plunged -19% in primetime, and -14% total day.
And just to put to rest Brian’s claim of ”typical fluctuations”, Fox saw no such drops. In year over year numbers the leader saw huge jumps in viewers; +46% primetime, and +38% total day.
This means the two virulently pro-impeachment networks got hammered in the past couple of weeks, and they cannot blame it on impeachment fatigue. Fox News, covering the same event, had massive spikes in the exact same time periods.
It seems clear a growing number of people are turning away from the impeachment dog & pony show. What is not clear is why these two sycophant networks cannot see that reality and continue to pretend they are driving the narrative.
