If you are even an occasional viewer of CNN, chances are you have not been able to escape a commercial for the channel's "Planet in Peril" two-hour homage to environmental alarmism.
Despite the huge hype, however, CNN's regular audience seems to have tuned out the special. It was a ratings dud:
It's not just the "Planet in Peril." The ratings for CNN's two-hour environmental special last week were also in crisis.
The second installment of the series landed in third place in the adults 25-54 demographic and fourth place in viewers for its 9 p.m.-11 p.m. Thursday premiere, Nielsen Media Research said.
That is despite strong ratings for the original four-hour series "Planet in Peril," in October 2007, as well as reported pieces by Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Lisa Ling, plus a heavy round of marketing this time around.
"Planet in Peril" averaged 426,000 viewers in the demo to Fox News Channel's 595,000 and Headline News' 490,000. "Peril" was only able to best MSNBC's 380,000 in the demo. But it fell to fourth place with 1 million viewers to Fox News Channel's 2.7 million, MSNBC's 1.1 million and Headline News's 1 million.
Via Michael Calderone.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
CNN: Exposed: The Climate of Fear (Glen Beck)
December 16, 2008 - 09:15 ET by PopularTechCNN: Exposed: The Climate of Fear (Video) (42min)
CNN should have ran their much better special hosted by Glen Beck.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution
PT Have you seen
December 17, 2008 - 10:34 ET by danboPT Have you seen this?
This kills wind farms around here. Our chances of a Tropical Storm or a minor Hurricane are about certain every 3-5 years.
Limited Disclosure: I used to belong to the Sierra Club untill they went crazier. Worse of all, I was bribed by Exxon with free New Orleans Saints glasses with fill ups in the 70's.
But But But
December 16, 2008 - 09:22 ET by Spinningplates2But I'm sure that if you ask CNN they will tell you that even though the number of viewers was small the people who did watch were; smarter, more happy, better looking, and spent less time clinging to their guns and religion.
I'm cold. I want my Global Warming.
December 16, 2008 - 09:30 ET by Hunter12I thought this white stuff falling out of the sky must be volcanic ash. Imagine my surprise when I walked outside and it was cold, frozen water. I think they call it "snow".
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
→ Laissez Fairy
December 16, 2008 - 10:01 ET by Cool ArrowThis is a case of Laissez Fairy (Let Anderson Cooper decide)
Pay lots of money, or your planet will burn up. You think it's cold now? Just wait until Global Warming really kicks in! You're really going to freeze then.
How could this be?
December 16, 2008 - 10:04 ET by SickofLibsBut Anderson looked so heroic in the promos/print ads... it's just not fair.
→ So what?
December 16, 2008 - 10:12 ET by Cool ArrowRock Hudson looked manly in "Giant"
Cool -->
December 16, 2008 - 10:17 ET by SemperrightWasn't Rock known as the Laissez Fairy?
Semper Fi
Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share.
Ned Dolan
It doesn't really matter how
December 16, 2008 - 10:07 ET by KillgraveIt doesn't really matter how well this thing does on the first run. All they will do is package it up and sell it to public schools, who look for junk like this to brainwash their students. Mission accomplished.
It is the Law of
December 16, 2008 - 10:09 ET by UnsaneIt is the Law of Diminishing Returns, in all likelyhood. For YEARS now, the media has been pounding us on the head with sledgehammers, repeatedly assuring us that if we don't take drastic measures RIGHT NOW (such as strangling the world's largest, most powerful and most advanced economy, though of course they don't say that in so many words!), we are heading for a worldwide apocalypse. You can only do this so many times before people just yawn and look at something else.
"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!!! A WAR ON FREEWILL IS COMING!!!" - Nevermore, "Bittersweet Feast", from This Godless Endeavor (2005)
Why am I not surprised?
December 16, 2008 - 10:12 ET by fitzfongWhy am I not surprised? When economic times are good, eco-Marxist theory thrives because people need something about which to feel guilt. Now that economic times are bad, people no longer have the tolerance for the eco-Marxist parasites or the junk science that they used to create a hysteria and ultimately cause the financial mess.
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
Two Hours?
December 16, 2008 - 10:12 ET by KarinI can't imagine sitting through TWO HOURS of envirohype. Anderson Cooper is such a bubble headed bleach blonde, I can't watch him for 2 seconds.
I did some math...
December 16, 2008 - 12:13 ET by AtillaKahunaSo, the Global Warming Acolytes think that we're destroying the planet with all of our fossil-fuel-buring and raping-and-pillaging of Gaia's natural resources.
At the same time, they say that the G-D-Bush economy has destroyed the country and put everyone out of work.
They won't let us build clean-coal power plants because it destroys the planet with strip mining and toxic emissions.
They won't let us build nuclear power plants because the spent fule rods will destroy the planet and give us all radiation poisoning.
They won't let us build wind farms because somewhere a red-crested boobie will fly into the blades and get sliced-and-diced faster than Chef Tell with a Ginsu.
Here's an that solves all their problems: Take the $700 Billion that was given to the financial industry. If you look at the cost of household solar systems, they run somewhere around $20-30 thousand per installation. That would be over 23 MILLION household solar systems.
How's THAT for a job-creation program? How's THAT for an economic stimulus package? I know if I didn't have to pay the power company $180 a month for my electricity I'd be doing other things with it.
What say you?
Kahuna
The energy we need - Coal, Oil, Natural Gas and Nuclear
December 16, 2008 - 12:47 ET by PopularTech1. We should just build coal power plants, we need the electricity. Any built today already have to meet the existing clean air laws.
- The United States has 268 billion tons of coal reserves or about a 240 year supply (National Mining Association)
- 48% of U.S. electrical generation comes from coal (EIA) (20% Natural Gas, 19% Nuclear, 7% Hydroelectric and 2% from "Renewables")
2. We can recycle the spent nuclear fuel like France does.
Recycling Nuclear Fuel: The French Do It, Why Can’t Oui? (FOX News)
3. Wind Farms are a scam pushed by the environmentalists, they cannot replace existig power stations and are not market competitive with existing forms of power generation (coal, natural gas and nuclear).
Windmills for Suckers (PDF)
4. Solar energy is an even bigger scam than wind and the government shouldn't be bailing out anyone or investing in anything. It is all a waste of money that robs private capital from creating real sources of energy.
The False Promises of Solar Energy (Michael R. Fox, Ph.D. Physical Chemistry)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution
Say Kahuna, how about those 100,000 electric fill up stations
December 16, 2008 - 13:11 ET by upcountrywaterSo traffic is bad enough on Oahu, how about following an electric car going 25 MPH, limping to one of a 100,000 stations?
BTW it will take more time to charge a car there than the time to drive to work, and the time at work.
They plan to use the Power companies grid...Guess what the electric power generated in Hawaii is 95% fuel oil.. We are talking of mass inefficencies.. a mini diesel would be a much better choice, for over all fuel savings.
Solar panels do not work, (95% loss) with the heavy cloudness we have had in this last week... so you still need the back-up power plants to provide the electric power.
Go Nuclear, just like France, Hawaii is a lot like France.
FREEDOM
(D)
Just to be clear...
December 16, 2008 - 14:20 ET by AtillaKahunaI was NOT saying that giving everyone household solar was a good idea.
Personally, I think the left's insistence on "green energy" when there is NO technology that has been shown to be a viable replacement is nearly treasonous.
I was merely pointing out that they have only one mode of communication, and that is to block any and all real solutions to actual problems, not propose anything that is a viable alternative.
They tell us that the world is running out of oil (not true, but they say it), so we must all drive electric cars. What am I supposed to do? The air temp when I walked out my front door this morning was -7 degrees f. How well will some battery bank on wheels perform at those temps? How far will I be able to drive while syphoning off amps to keep myself alive?
As was pointed out, it takes longer to charge than the actual drive time that charge gives you. In other words, not a viable solution.
I was merely pointing out, once again, the hypocrisy of the left, along with the 2+ million jobs promise of the president-elect.
Sorry for any confusion that I've caused.
As far as the viability of household solar, the technology works just fine. One of the major problems is, however, to get a truly "off-grid" sized system is cost-prohibitive, and the size of the battery-bank to hold nighttime amps is also very large and batteries don't last forever.
Kahuna
We did not need the government to stop riding horses
December 16, 2008 - 14:39 ET by PopularTechI have no problem with any technology being used, I have a problem with being forced to use it. So long as it is economically viable without government regulations or subsidies it sounds fine to me.
What makes the greens so dangerous is their push for "green" technology based on emotion and lies, not science or economics.
To use a simple analogy - we did not need the government to stop riding horses.
When something better or more economical than oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear comes around we will use it. Environmentalists want to use government to force compliance of their delusional fantasies through government regulations. The danger is nothing less than the U.S. economy and western civilization.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution
Good idea
December 16, 2008 - 15:41 ET by jaywlHorses? Novel, interesting idea! Very green. Well brown anyway, as in billions of tons of horseshit. But we could ferment that into natural gas. Natural must be good. Pass it along to ObamaOne.
AKahuna, No worries; I assumned that you lived in Hawaii,..
December 16, 2008 - 16:02 ET by upcountrywaterAll these unproven technologies here and here being foisted on the tax payers in Hawaii is EVIL.
QUIT SPENDING MY MONEY!
I have a solar system, and a generator I paid for them myself!
You may be right about, some FORCED solar green project, by the 0ne..
FREEDOM
(D)
I just rode on an electric
December 17, 2008 - 10:21 ET by danboI just rode on an electric bus. The Bus driver was answering questions on it. (It did have a turbine to charge the batteries. It's supposed to turn off when the batteries are fully charged. But it never went off any time I was on or near it.)
I asked the cost and told it cost over a half million. When I asked to cost of the normal bus I was told slightly over $300,000. I didn't ask if the half mil included federal subsidies)
I couldn't help but wonder how much diesel and how many miles $200,000 could buy.
Limited Disclosure: I used to belong to the Sierra Club untill they went crazier. Worse of all, I was bribed by Exxon with free New Orleans Saints glasses with fill ups in the 70's.
Haven't watched CNN in years
December 16, 2008 - 15:05 ET by NecromancerHaven't watched CNN in years and am not planning to do so ever again. In fact I refuse to watch or listen to the left-wing MSM period.They have been spewing garbage for the last 16 years on just a simple count.