Drudge Notes Network News Nosedive

Photo of Tom Blumer.
By Tom Blumer (Bio | Archive)
October 22, 2008 - 08:36 ET

AnchorsBW1008Matt Drudge, with some apparent glee, given the black and white picture he used, reported something yours truly has followed for some time: The Big Three networks' evening newscasts continue to lose viewers.

He reports that the numbers, even in a presidential election year, are down from last year:

ELECTION REJECTION: NETWORK NEWS SLUMPS; VIEWERSHIP FADES

..... All 3 evening news shows experienced audience drops year-to-year for the week of Oct. 13-19, 2008.

CBSNEWS w/ Couric shed a half a million viewers, falling from 6.4 million to 5.9 million; ABCNEWS dropped from 8.1 million to 7.6 million; NBCNEWS slumped from 8.2 million to 7.8 million.

Media Bistro's TV Newser confirms this (Oct. 13-19, 2008, Oct. 15-21, 2007).

Looks like the nets are going to have to come up with the money Team Obama is demanding for Election Night coverage from something other than evening news advertising.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.


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Well!

October 22, 2008 - 08:47 ET by heldmyw

They'll just have to work harder, be more strident and move further to the left! 

It hasn't worked in the past, but that's no reason not to do it even more!

 

Correct

October 22, 2008 - 17:33 ET by allanf

When a business starts to fail, management assumes it is because they are not following their company's business model properly.   

The networks newscaters reason they are failing because they are not left wing enough.

I'm Saddened

October 22, 2008 - 08:52 ET by AndyR

Here is an idea for the big 3. Raise your rates to make up the deficit. And when you do, make sure whoever gets the most, shares it with the others.

Singing to the Choir

October 22, 2008 - 15:09 ET by deerjerkydave

"Now that sounds like sound fiscal management!"  Says Barrack Obama and Barney Frank in unison.

What could possibly go wrong? 

I wonder

October 22, 2008 - 09:03 ET by Copperhead Ridge

I wonder how many of those viewers watch to see how they're going to spin a story. I know it doesn't matter to advertisers, but if I ever watch the Jurassic networks I'm just seeing if they spin stories they way I anticipate.

I guess I count as a viewer, but I'm not a consumer of adult diapers, bladder control products, ED products, acid reflux medicine, and Geritol.

Their advertising should tell them something about their market.

They have the potential to make money, but judging from the candidate these people support, money is not important.

Simple solution...

October 22, 2008 - 09:09 ET by KC Beach

If they would do their jobs and report ALL the news - I'd watch.

They obviously don't think their viewers are intelligent enough to decide for themselves so they only tell them what they want them to know.  Those of us who like to decide what to believe for ourselves choose not to waste our time getting only half the story spun in one direction.  Same with the printed news.  How hard would it be to print everything and let me sort through it myself?

Wondering

October 22, 2008 - 09:09 ET by KC Mulville

Just to grasp the context, I have some questions. These are honest questions - I don't know the answers, and I'm not asking them for rhetorical purposes.

  1. Are these lost viewers going somewhere else (cable, internet)? Where?
  2. Or is viewership merely down as a whole?
  3. Is the viewership down for the networks as a whole, or just the news shows?
  4. Is the viewership down merely for all news shows, or just the evening news?
  5. Is it because these three anchors are poor? Could a new anchor provoke better numbers?

Confession: analyzing database numbers is part of my job, and these are standard questions. For instance, if the network news shows are dropping, and they're all flocking to Fox, that advances the conclusion that America has lost trust in liberal media. But if they're all flocking to MSNBC or the Huffington Post, you may have to postpone that conclusion.

Where and why did those former network viewers go anywhere?

Shock and Awe

October 22, 2008 - 09:41 ET by KC Beach

Remember right after the war began and we were all proud Americans?  That was the last time I could stomach the msm.  Soon after that the left began a campaign to make us feel like our pride in our country and our troops was wrong.  Nothing but bad news because we were the bad guys.  As we speak, only FOX reports live from Iraq. There's no bad news fit to report from the left.  Why won't they give us the GOOD news too?

Not just broadcasters

October 22, 2008 - 10:02 ET by bschoom

There are several web sites in the past I might peruse for news that I'll never frequent again.

Along with the above mentioned networks, it's been made crystal clear (I hope
at all their expense) what side and viewpoint these 'established' news
sources are on, have taken, and will continue to take in the future.

Any print site, or broadcaster that sides with the extremism that a
majority of hollywood, tv, stage and movie persona practice is a persona non
grata in my world.

Give me news, not a slanted view of what someone feels the world should be shown. 

 

I think we are getting

October 22, 2008 - 10:59 ET by jdhawk

I think we are getting ahead of ourselves if we think that the liberal news media isn't still all pervasive.  The numbers above still add up to 22 million viewers tuning in every night and the countless rebroadcasts of snippets of that news over the AM and FM radio throughout the broadcast day.  Then there is the newsmagazines, newspapers, and Internet. 

If you think they are ebbing away, take a look at who we have as our Republican candidate.  Did anyone on this web site want Senator McCain as our candidate?  Do you doubt that the liberals had a hand in picking him?

This news blog is dedicated to exposing liberal bias.  That's great.  Nevertheless, we have few conservative news media available to us and they certainly do not garner anywhere near the broadcasting power of their liberal counterparts.  

We have a lot of work to do and it appears that it may be extremely up hill from here with a dimocrat Congress and defeatocrat president.  

7%

October 22, 2008 - 12:15 ET by Red Jeep

22 mill is only 7% of the country, divided between 3 networks.

They must not be gaining viewers, and as viewers stop watching their numbers decrease, a static audience.

Tom Brokaw commented many years ago that when NBC was #3 in the news ratings it had a larger audience than when many years later it became #1. The decline continues...

Whatever the reason, it is

October 22, 2008 - 11:00 ET by rbosque

Whatever the reason, it is clear that the leftists in the media are losing their grip as a major source of information to the public. They have filtered/censored information and focused attention on the agendas that matter to them. I am happy their monopoly is coming to an end.

Arrogance

October 22, 2008 - 12:29 ET by Ohming

MSM newscasters obviously know whats best for us. They seem to be moving ever increasingly left, competing for a single left audience; the big 3 must had oodles of money to play with. They will fade away, gaurantee it. 

I am looking forward to the next time I see Katie Couric on TV. It will be on a Fox newscast 30 years from now. She will be in her low rent apartment with her 14 cats, rambling about how she could have saved the world as she is poised in front of a Pelosi poster - covered in dust.

 This Thanksgiving will be my one year anniversary from MSM, vote with your wallet america!!!! 

Block Chairman visits.

October 22, 2008 - 12:55 ET by moovova

By the time these news stations are nationalized under the Obama Regime, they will only have an audience of 2.5 people.  So it will be difficult for the folks in charge of the gov'ment to issue their daily mantra.  At that point, I'm sure the laws will be changed to require that all American citizens watch at least one hour of MSNBC or CNN each day.  Don't worry...your local Block Chairman will be making surprise visits at the appointed program airing times to ensure all citizens are doing their part by taking advantage of these wonderful learning opportunites.

 

That's what happens when

October 22, 2008 - 14:37 ET by RedbonePro

That's what happens when you slant so far to the left that you can't feature any news that isn't heavily biased. Mix into that no critical reporting of their political 'chosen one' and this is what you get. This is just a normal backlash from viewers who are increasingly sick and tired of their BS.

Its not news anymore, its political spin and leftist propaganda. I'm surprised their numbers are so high...

News

October 22, 2008 - 17:53 ET by livingfree

I wouldn't line my bird cage with their rotten one sided papers.

I hope and pray they all go broke and get what they deserve.

No respect, no money, no viewers.