News flash: President Donald Trump tweeted today about the mainstream news media and was less than complimentary:
The Corrupt News Media is totally out of control – they have given up and don’t even care anymore. Mainstream Media has ZERO CREDIBILITY – TOTAL LOSERS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2019
However, earlier in the day, he did retweet some poll numbers as reported by One America News Network, or OANN.
“The latest Polls find 51% of Americans approve of President Trump’s Job Performance. Last month a Democrat Pollster said President Trump’s approval rating has been the most steady of any President in history!” @OANN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2019
“With over a 50% Approval Rating at this point in his Presidency, analysts believe re-election in 2020 looks (very) promising!” @OANN Hey, we have accomplished more than any President in the first 2 1/2 years, WHY NOT?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2019
With the president adding OANN to his regular viewing along with Fox News, CNN media guy Brian Stelter decided to look into it and see if anybody but Trump was watching OANN:
With Trump promoting @OANN again this week, I went looking for ratings data. How many people besides the president are watching? OANN doesn't subscribe to Nielsen, the industry standard. But it turns out that Nielsen IS measuring the channel…
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 15, 2019
Nielsen has #'s for OANN in "metered markets," i.e. the country's biggest metro areas. This spring, in those markets, OANN has been averaging just 14,000 viewers. Fox News: 631,000 viewers in those same markets.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 15, 2019
Now do CNN.
In the final #'s, with all the smaller markets, Fox's average audience roughly doubles. So even if we're being generous to OANN– let's say its total audience is triple the metered market #'s– the channel is not filling a football stadium. Fox, CNN, MSNBC all exponentially bigger.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 15, 2019
This is not a surprise, nor is it news, so what’s the point?
Competition is a good thing. But so is data. OANN's W.H. correspondent told me Nielsen ratings are "fake." Well, the ratings are not perfect, but they're the industry standard, the foundation for billions in ad sales. And Trump loves ratings. But he also likes cherry-picking…
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 15, 2019
Last month Trump tweeted about a "big ratings jump" at OANN. The channel clearly doesn't have big ratings. But OANN execs have shared ComScore #'s with the White House that tell a growth story. First outlet Trump called on at his most recent presser? OANN. /end
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 15, 2019
Trump called on OANN before CNN at a presser? Jim Acosta and the rest of CNN have been crying about not being called on first ever since he took office:
Trump chooses Fox and Daily Caller for his two questions.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) June 7, 2018
And Stelter’s already done this bit with OANN and its ratings, last August.
POTUS is quoting an obscure host who hosts an O'Reilly Factor rip-off on @OANN, a channel that's so small it doesn't get rated by Nielsen ??♂️ pic.twitter.com/lrhWkhR8GZ
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 9, 2018
Your periodic reminder that more people watch “Dr. Pimple Popper” than CNN’s primetime offerings.
Depends on the size of the stadium. Again I don’t believe you’ve got apples to apples here because OANN isn’t in every home like the others??♂️
— Stacey Shaner (@StaceyShaner) June 15, 2019
Ratings would be higher if they were carried on all of the cable providers. Unfortunately they aren’t owned by liberal, political activist corporations such as @Comcast who refuse to carry them.
— Shamcon (@shamcon) June 15, 2019
Now factor in that CNN is required to be carried on most cable channel packages, and is contracted to play in certain high-traffic environments such as airport terminals.
Nobody is comparing their numbers to yours, yet you are foundering despite the artificial boost. https://t.co/yZ7pVtEGku— Brad Slager – Under The Top ? ??? (@MartiniShark) June 15, 2019
Do you really think OANN, created 2013, will match CNN or Fox? We can all agree that the direction of ratings is important and ratings for a news network reflects credibility. If you are not trusted, you lose viewers. https://t.co/aacpKGozQB
— Mike (@mringou) June 15, 2019
Are you really this dumb, Brian? They are new. Give them time. You think your radical self just started out with 648K + followers? No… you slowly brainwashed them with your reporting over time. We need more competition against you guys. That’s a FACT!!
— Adam Wanemacher (@WanemacherAdam) June 15, 2019
They are gaining viewers while garbage news @CNN and @MSNBC are tanking due to fools like Mr Stelter spewing biased hatred instead of non partisan news.
— KeyWestConch (@WestConch) June 15, 2019
No s*** that NBC, CNN, etc are exponentially larger than startup @OANN .
Now do viewers per dollar spent.
— Rusty Shackleford (@dalesdeadbugtx) June 15, 2019
Hilarious that you put CNN next to Fox. Any Fox show regularly does 3x the viewers of CNN. And think about bloat and expense of CNN that OANN doesn’t.
— deftnyc (@deftnyc) June 15, 2019
So 1/2 of your audience @brianstelter on 1/100th of @CNN ‘s budget? ?
— Noddy Thoughts (@AdamPeart2) June 15, 2019
My favorite thing about this thread is this particular tweet, in which he includes CNN with Fox and MSNBC as if their ratings are somehow comparable. Lmao ? ? https://t.co/Y5RK9JbHgF
— MAGA Covfefe ✨☕ (@MAGACovfefe2) June 15, 2019
The funny thing about this rant… CNN is exponentially smaller then FOX and MSNBC and yet you continue to view it as a "Premiere" network.
— Annabelle Smith (@annabelle3236) June 15, 2019
Hun, I wouldn’t go there. CNN is lower than HGTV and the cartoon channel.
I would suggest your judgement is not the best…
— Dana ?? (@DanaJo114) June 15, 2019
It’s a new and growing station you dope!! Ratings mean nothing right now.
— Luna (@SophiaMariaLuna) June 15, 2019
CNN should not be drawing anyone's attention to ratings. Your argument here is that ratings = relevance. You see where this is going right? Fox wins every day, every week, month and year. Every timeslot. What's your conclusion?
— Craig Reynolds (@BaxterBen78) June 15, 2019
The conclusion is never to right the ship and start reporting the facts without bias, unfortunately.
Related:
WTG TATER! Brian Stelter attacks @OANN'S ratings after Trump quotes them, TRIPS hilariously over CNN https://t.co/7aTQZ1mkkl
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 9, 2018
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