Want to know why John McCain and Sarah Palin are laughing in the picture to the right?
Numbers just released by Nielsen Media Research show the average per night viewership of the just concluded Republican National Convention set a record this week topping the audience for the previous week's Democratic National Convention by more than 4 million viewers each evening.
This is quite different than the media meme that Americans are disinterested in politics, in particular Republicans, wouldn't you agree?
As reported by the Associated Press Friday (emphasis added, photo courtesy AP):
This week's ratings, with an average of 34.5 million viewers watching the GOP convention over three days, proved people are becoming more interested in what the Republicans have to say. The Democrats had an average audience of 30.2 million over four days, Nielsen said.
"No one really thought they had it in them in terms of pulling off this amazing convention," said Jay Wallace, vice president for news and editorial at Fox News Channel. But Hurricane Gustav pulled people into the news networks over the weekend, he said. People were also intensely curious about McCain's pick of Palin as a running mate, he said.
Nielsen said that 38.9 million people watched McCain accept the GOP nomination Thursday on either ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel or MSNBC. PBS, which has a more imprecise estimate based on samples in a few big cities, said 3.5 million watched on its network.
Last week, Obama's speech in Denver was seen by 38.4 million on 10 different commercial networks, and an additional 4 million on PBS.
Shhhhh. If you listen closely, you can hear liberal media elites from New York to Los Angeles crying in their beer.
Isn't it glorious?
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.
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Gloriously delicious!!! I
September 6, 2008 - 01:03 ET by bigtimerGloriously delicious!!!
I am laughing myself silly!
Can't you just hear the excuses for why this happened...big secret Rove conspiracy don't you know...
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
The only question is....
September 6, 2008 - 01:14 ET by True_SoldierWill the so called MSM make it as big of a news story as they did when the Dems numbers came out.......I am not holding my breath.
Noel
September 6, 2008 - 01:17 ET by ricklailI was wondering what you were doing up so early but I forgot you are on the west coast. So far so good here in eastern NC. I wouldn't be afraid to bet that the most watched show overall this passed week has been the Weather Channel.
If pro is the opposite of con what is the opposite of progress? Congress!
Popularity
September 6, 2008 - 01:28 ET by KC MulvilleI'm not sure that TV ratings are the real predictors here. However, it's at least as reliable a marker as all those people who have been saying for a year that the Democrats are obviously so much more popular because so many more registered and voted in their primaries. The Democrat primary between Obama and Clinton generated a lot of heat, where the GOP side had fairly little. But that is completely different than if the contest is between a radical liberal and a conservative. The primaries were always meaningless, no matter what the pundits said at the time. You always have to keep these markers in relative perspective.
Let me see the poll numbers after the first presidential debate. What's going to matter to me is not whether they're tied or who's ahead. What will matter is which way they move after the debate, no matter who seems to be ahead. If Obama is up five, but after the debate he's only up two, the movement will be more meaningful than whether he's still ahead.
My advice to McCain is simple. Nothing cute. Meat and potatoes. No jokes or canned gimmicks. You have him on substance, stick to substance.
I think McCain's got him. As long as he doesn't blow it.
A fight ahead...
September 6, 2008 - 02:25 ET by AgentAmericanI can't wait for the debate in three weeks. Why do I have this feeling that Obama's thin skin will be his undoing? The man can't handle criticism nor can he be spontaneous with his words. McCain is in the driver's seat with Sarah riding shotgun...or is it the other way around?
Drill ANWAR
OT
September 6, 2008 - 02:27 ET by well99This guy is a real American.It is worth it to listen to what he has to say.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ4TNfhhrgg
Isnt this sweet
September 6, 2008 - 03:21 ET by well99You wont see this reported by the MSM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7592362.stm
I wonder what the numbers
September 6, 2008 - 07:25 ET by The Peoples DJI wonder what the numbers where like with those who watch online like I did.
Be careful how you interpret these numbers
September 6, 2008 - 07:42 ET by Iowa BoyWorking in radio, we live and die by the ratings books. However, it's only a snap shot. It tells us only how many people listen during a given time, not why. Rush's 22-million listener don't all love him. He just has 22-million listeners
We must must avoid the temptation to look at those ratings from this week and say, "See, America loves John McCain." As much as we'd like it to be a reflection of what we believe, truth be told, it just means that that many people watched the convention. That's it.
"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." Official Motto of the State of Iowa
You are right about the
September 6, 2008 - 07:51 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsYou are right about the numbers being deceptive, but they do show that, most likely, many people watched both conventions.
D
Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.
"We must must avoid the
September 6, 2008 - 10:00 ET by ckc1227"We must must avoid the temptation to look at those ratings from this week and say, "See, America loves John McCain."
And it goes both ways. That a lot of people watched the Dem conventions doesn't mean America loves Barack Obama either.
What it does say is that America hasn't necessarily written off McCain or the Republicans. Political conventions aren't the type of thing folks tune in to just for the heck of it. Had our ratings been substantially less than the Dem convention, you could count this election over.
Beer?
September 6, 2008 - 08:32 ET by totalkaosdaveTotalKaosDave
Come on Noel. "Crying in their beer?" I don't think neo-dems drink something as blue collar as beer. Wine, I can see, maybe scotch...what else would these elite snobs drink???
TKD, I know what the Dimwitacrats drink!
September 6, 2008 - 09:00 ET by goldenthroatThese moronic, burned out hippies have been hooked on Ripple since the 60s!
"The sun's not going down, the horizon's moving up!" - Firesign Theatre
Now some of us who drink
September 6, 2008 - 15:46 ET by danboNow some of us who drink wine and scotch aren't like that. (Beer's also good.)
I for one would love to see a meeting of Newsbusters folks in Nappa and Sanoma. Just to watch the crazies cry in their chardonnay.
I love Nappa and San Francisco. But it's so crazy I can only stay so long. Then I start feeling like I need go home and take a bath.
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.
Liberal drinks
September 6, 2008 - 23:22 ET by Tom1969caChardonay? Brandy? Mountain spring water from Tibet?
=====
"There are some who use change to promote their careers, and then there are those who use their careers to promote change."
--Sarah Palin
On display
September 6, 2008 - 10:45 ET by jrandallI like the idea that alot of people watched the convention, to have a chance to watch this coverage of Republicans, and conservatives specifically, by, hate filled, partisan news celebrities. And now we get to see them try to defend their professionalism and non partisanship. The MSM looks foolish, and amateurish, and because of their hate...they will not be able to mask or hide their partisanship for very long. I believe night 2 undid and exposed years of MSM efforts, and the Dems are more unhappy than they have ever been.
..and during Hurricane
September 6, 2008 - 12:24 ET by Gary Hall..and during Hurricane Gustav - which the nation was focused on.
Noel. I saw a few news bits, highlighting the glorious viewership of the Democratic convention, and specifically, Obama's speech. One, I remember, celebrated that more people [in the US] watched the speech, than watched the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics. I bet there is little to none of that for McCain/Palin. (:~> gary
This is awsome, considering
September 6, 2008 - 14:33 ET by general companyThis is awsome, considering I did not even get to watch hardly any of it. I thought the storm would had over shadowed it. I did get to see Fred and Joe via the net on Fox news. They were both great.
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
consider this...
September 6, 2008 - 13:11 ET by abeautifulpersonperhaps, just perhaps, the opponents of conservatives actually take the time to watch BOTH sides of the political spectrum.
i know plenty of people who don't consider themselves affiliated with the conservative party, but they watched the RNC speeches.
i also know lots of people who followed the DNC from the internet. is that included?
anyhow, i find 30m or even 40m people in a country of 350m following the two main parties, pathetic.
poor beauty
September 6, 2008 - 13:27 ET by candanceNow all the sudden the size of the crowd doesn't matter.
It must be tiring to move so many goalposts in one week.
And we're using nation of
September 6, 2008 - 15:38 ET by danboAnd we're using nation of islam math. It was the 10 million man march. And 1/3 of the earths population watched Al's concert.
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.
i'm just glad i not the only one saying it.
September 6, 2008 - 16:33 ET by abeautifulpersonthe fact that such a small percentage of the voting population even tuned in to learn about their candidates is a sad commentary. i'm not saying mccain shouldn't be pleased. but perhaps crying liberals is a wee bit of an exaggeration.
and judging a TV audience these days isn't much to be proud of. but i guess that's the american voting public, isn't it.
cheetah girls drew 6.2 million viewers, WWE came in 5th and 6th w/ 5 million and 4.8 million. hmmmm...
38 million, eh? what were the other couple hundred million doing?
Crying in their beer
September 6, 2008 - 17:38 ET by bigtimerCrying in their beer indeed...pass the Kleenex....
By the way, I just heard something like 51% of people think the msm is too critical or biased towards Palin, 24% more likely to vote for her because of it....
Dontcha just love it!
Keep up the excellent work msm...
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh