Down Steeply Since Late Jan., Big 3 Evening Newscasts Stuck at Low Summer Levels

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Big3NetsSymbols0909

After a summer swoon, you would think that the evening newscasts of the Big 3 networks would start to recover a bit now that many Americans are back from vacations, kids are back in school, and fall routines are getting established or re-established.

So far, you would be wrong.

It's early, and there's still plenty of time this fall to recover, but during the time period after Labor Day, the broadcasts primarily anchored by Brian Williams at NBC, Charles Gibson at ABC, and Katie Couric at CBS:

  • Are down a combined 28.5% from their peak in late January during the first full week of Barack Obama's presidency.
  • Have lost a combined 37.7% of their audience in the 25-54 demographic during the same time period.
  • Are down year-over-year compared to September 1, 2008, the week after Labor a year ago, by 8.9% overall and 18.1% in the 25-54 demographic.
  • At 19.55 million, are basically drawing audiences no larger than they were during this past (for them) miserable summer.

What follows are related graphics; source material comes from posts in the Evening News Ratings Category at Media Bistro's TV Newser.

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Here's the overall, down from 27.36 million during the week of January 26 to 19.55 million during the relevant days this past week:

Big3NewsTotalViewers0109to0909

Here's the by-network look, where ABC can take a tiny bit of comfort in having passed NBC during the past week -- but only because NBC lost about 500,000 viewers:

Big3NewsByNetwork0109to0909

Finally, here's a chart comparing this past week to the January 26 peak week and the analogous week from a year ago:

Big3News0909v0109and0908

There's little point in denying that Big 3 Nets supported and heavily invested in Barack Obama's electoral rise and ultimate victory, risking large-scale alienation of what remained of its already-shrinking audience. From a ratings and presumably financial standpoint, it's pretty hard to argue that it was worth it. The Internet doesn't cause almost 30% of an audience to disappear in less than 8 months. More recently, as documented frequently at NewsBusters, all three networks have bit on the "subtle racism" meme and, until recent days, totally ignored James O'Keefe's and Hannah Giles's unmasking of the seamy side of ACORN, more than likely driving even more viewers away.

Although the 500 employees getting laid off at NBC (after buyouts were offered to "virtually everyone") would probably agree the complete sellout has not been worth it, it wouldn't surprise me if the hardened ideologues with the smiley faces at the Big 3 networks consider such actions unfortunate and inconvenient collateral damage.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.

—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters


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And they will sink much

And they will sink much lower.

Why the net news shows made the decision to self destruct, and in such an obvious and public manner, will be the subject of many books in the future.

Gosh, looks like it's time to feed the dog.

No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.

NEW NAME GAME

 

RE-NAMING THE “MAINSTREAM” MEDIA

Some names come to mind for th NYT-TV network folks…like the:

1…..fringe media (saw this on Beck and its a winner)
2…..old media
3…..subculture media
4…..slave media
5…..clueless media
6…..pawn media
7…..mousie media
8…..1984 media
9…..borg media
10…half media
11…blind media
12…cretin media
13…controlled media
14…spineless media
15…pinko media
16…forgetful media
17…filter media
18…fossil media
19…repeat media
20…puppet media

Go ahead, add a few…maybe we need a “re-naming czar” too.

Doug Schexnayder, Ph.D. (theconservativecrawfish)

→ Subprime Media

Just a thought

LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

"Subprime media" GENIUS!

"Subprime media"

GENIUS!

→ Thanks pwoz

It's my personal favorite.

LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

How about a parody

Not ready for prime time media? Yea kinda long, but it does suggest the child-like performance

 

My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful

"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg

Cool

either yours or Beck's fringe media...leaning towards fringe, easier for me to type...lol.

The has been media

 

The HAS BEEN media

 

They are a bunch of has beens spewing forth with has been ideas.

http://gjresult.com

 

→ Yellow Urinalism

OK, don't consider this one.

LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

Of course

Of course, if you use this one, you can say don't do yellow urinalism on my leg and then telll me its raining.

Kinda works.

Does all a descriptor should

Does all a descriptor should do: gets to the point quickly, easy to remember, tells it like it is. I like it!

No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.

Propagandist Media

Propagandist Media

I'm gonna keep trying

Cowardly Repeaters! 

 

Proud member of the MOB - Move Over Barack, we want our country back! 

There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V

→ Other People's Media

This one may be too deep for some.

LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

Doug...these would be great

Doug...these would be great titles for the books to be written!

No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.

The weak, co-dependent,

The weak, co-dependent, biased, clueless, anti-american, baby killing media.

Too long? 

Works for me. Maybe a

Works for me. Maybe a subtitle?

No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.

Pravda part Deux!

: )

Gary

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. -- Tom Paine

I like "fringe media", but

I like "fringe media", but right now I like "State Run Media"...but definitely not "Main Stream"...

MSM...

Legacy media...

Drive-By media...

State Run media...

ButtBoy media...

Obama Stenographers...

Whatever you wish to call them, Many of the old guard in the MSM will be dead within 10-15 years. I don't think we will see network evening news, & I think maybe the NYSlimes maybe defunct by that time as well.

That is why I see BathTubBoy blazing a path of the future of liberal left leaning news presentation. He does get plenty of material from fishwraps like the NYSlimes & the WashingtonCompost, he uses NBCnews naturally, but he is way ahead of the curve in using places like the Daily Kos, DemUnderground, Move-On, MediaMatters, & other crap loony leftist sites for his show prep. I think even Olby knows how much trouble the old MSM is in, whether he would ever admit that or not, I doubt it.

 

 

"...How blind can you be, don't you see...

...that the gambler lost all he does not have..."  

Nightwish

how about ...

high fructose corn syrup media,

 textured vegetable protein media,

empty calorie media

a bad hangover media 

The Downhill Formula

News media has been whitewashing a communist. Americans do not want to lose their country, they expect the truth from the news media. Unfortunately questions are cherry picked, facts are overlooked, and the truth is distorted.

  1. Why didn't Obama reveal his real name from the beginning?
  2. Why were his associations firewalled?
  3. Why were his ACORN activities not revealed?
  4. Why didn't we know more about his civil rights and labor issues? ... 

JDW

DAILY WAVE

Hoping for change

five hundred thousand viewers

ooh can we say irrelevant? Of course they'll blame the internet.

____________________________________________ 
The Emperor, he has no clothes

Well Kata

Its not just internet, its FOX news, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN and AM Talk Radio. 

Liberal Bias has little to do with it. With all the negative publicity that NB and other conservatives sites about Megan Fox and her "racist redneck" comments, Transformers 2 was a huge smash.

Newspapers and tradtional newpapers and magazines are going down because of two much competition

"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong

Perhaps....

 

Is there a clue in there somewhere?

Can somebody please help the fringe media find the clues?

http://gjresult.com

 

want to bankrupt the networks?

One simple thing would do it: get all of your friends to boycott sports on network TV. That would bankrupt them in about six months.

Unless you're willing to do that, don't tell me you're bothered by their bias.

 

Well I am bothered by their bias

 
Unless you're willing to do that, don't tell me you're bothered by their bias.

 I am terribly sorry, but I will continue to complain about all the bias I care to, and watch sports. I will even complain about the #!&*%$#@ refs also!!

My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful

"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg

People are not allowed to be bothered about network media bias..

....if they don't give up watching Football, Baseball, Tennis and Hockey? Please tell me your not serious. 

"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong

there's

nowhere to get sports other than network tv?

____________________________________________ 
The Emperor, he has no clothes

Hmmmm

Sunday Night Football is on NBC and it is the only night game on Sunday, The SuperBowl is either FOX, NBC or CBS. The Winter Olympics in Vancouver will be on NBC, FOX shows the NFC games, CBS shows the AFC games, World series is on FOX, Stanley Cup Finals are on NBC.

I guess you might catch Monday Night Football and Bullriding on ESPN or Basketball on TBS, but sorry too much to miss out on Network TV.  

edit

Sorry Kata, but I don't have to give up my SuperBowl Sunday with my Guacomole and Babybacks on my crystal clear HDTV, to complain that the tv networks have media bias.

"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong

FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA...

 Sports is the only thing I tune into the networks for. I sure as hell don't watch their newscasts, & I'm not down with reality TV, so it is all about sports in terms of watching the networks.

The only real political animal working on a network sports program is BathTubBoy, but as much as I hate the guy, he at least has some knowledge of sports. Even if baseball is his thing, he did report sports at ESPN. That said, NBC could have brought in someone better & not so loathsome. But then I guess NBC is trying to make him do something to justify his insane paychecks.

 

"...How blind can you be, don't you see...

...that the gambler lost all he does not have..."  

Nightwish

ehhh

I was just askin.  I haven't watched football since Steve Largent was still a football player and not a congressman. ;)  We're not a sport family here except for occasionally baseball when the Mariners aren't sucking - and we listen to that on the radio.

____________________________________________ 
The Emperor, he has no clothes

Thats okay kata

I just love my football, in fact I love my tv period :-) 

"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong

I know shawn :)

We're giving ours away next week.  Its a 3 man deal from about 12 yrs ago.  Sony WEGA 32"?  Anyone who can carry it - can have it. LOL

____________________________________________ 
The Emperor, he has no clothes

For the love of God kata

Even hearing about giving a nice tv like that makes me hurt all over, unless you are replacing it with a nice new flat screen?

Are you giving up your tv altogether ? :-( 

"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong

lmao

Aye - cable and tivo are cancelled - not a lot of point. :D  Fear not, though.  There is still the internet & netflix and my widescreen lcd computer monitor.  Missing Heroes, Lost etc ... that would be a shame.

When someone gets the bright idea to start charging for Hulu we might start cable up again.  And then we might get a nice flatscreen.  But right now - braces for two children and college. ugh.

I am serious, shawn

Networks use sports as a milking cow to pay for other programming.

It's a bit like asking Bernie Madoff for health advice because at least he doesn't cheat people that way.

 

Sorry Candance

Perhaps I am nitpicking, but I have an issue with your words. I can understand boycotting or not supporting a network, but your going as far as to say we cannnot complain about media bias if we watch their sports.

First off, I want to state that I have no problem with Glen Beck, however lets say I hate Glen Beck and hate him with the same passion most here hate Keith Olbermann, are you saying I enjoy watching Chris Wallace, I cannot complain I hate Glen Beck's bias because I support the FOX network by watching Chris Wallace? 

"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong

Well,

 

If the AUDIENCE leaves broad cast  TV and goes to say Fox Sports Channes, the games will follow the audience.

If football, baseball, basketball discover that the fans have tuned out the useless channels and moved, they will follow.

http://gjresult.com

 

Where are they going to move to Willis?

The only other football on tv is ESPN which is owned by ABC and the NFL network.

It would be stupid for FOX to move to FOX sports they will diminish the audince by 2/3's 

"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong

Well...

 

Before there was Fox News, the people watched the garbage.

A new outlet for "NEWS" appeared, and the People switched in droves from the old crap to the new, fresh air NEWSOUTLET company.

All we need is a 24 hour "Shawn228 Sports Channel" broadcasting games, and the fans will make you a very rich man.

http://gjresult.com

 

Now your talkin Willis :-)

The shawn228 sports channels will mandate bikini's to be worn by all Cheerleaders, even Lambeau Field and the frozen Tundra ;-) 

"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong

See?

 

You already have a ready audience.

You need the number for the football commissioner?  He's where you should start.

BasketBall... Hockey.

Catch the major league teams in early December and get them thinking about reasonable rates so you can approach the advertisers.

More Conservative fans that there are total numbers in the liberal left wing.

http://gjresult.com

 

Results

What product do these people deliver?

  • Investigative journalism? -- The financial collapse, Obama's level of executive experience, Obama's association with radicals, ACORN, town halls, marches on DC ... hell, they're avoiding more stories than they're covering.
  • Superior commentary? -- Sorry if any of you were drinking coffee and spewed it all over the computer ...
  • Basic reporting -- Yeah, right. Someone wake up Charlie Gibson and tell him school's back in session.

These days, all they have to offer is political shilling. All they got is attitude. No wonder network news is fossilising before our eyes. They're going the way of newsreels, public telephones, and hitching posts. In just a couple years, our children will go to museums, and the tour guides will have to explain what the "evening news" was.

Good riddance.

Duh....

They're going to continue losing market share because the american people don't believe their lies anymore.  CNN et. al are essentially doing nothing but playing to their hardcore supporters in NY/Calif/DC.

I still believe that they're doing this because they're hoping Obama will take over the media like he's taking over the banks, student loans, the schools, farms, energy and medicine.  Once he does that, all the media will be govt. employees who serve at his will and pleasure, and they won't have to worry about 'audience' or 'ratings' anymore because their jobs will be secure, totally funded (like PBS) by taxpayer dollars.

I still believe that 75% of

I still believe that 75% of the viewership is in Care facilities, and assisted living centers that turn the sets on in the morning and never change the channel. It is on CBS all day, so the patients and retirees can watch Regis, Rachel, Oprah, Price is Right, etc, etc.

I do not know anyone, nor spoken with anyone that watches any of the evening news broadcats. But then again, I do not know any brain dead liberals. 

 

X

Because they hide the remote and the TV is too high for the geezers to reach...

JohnJ--

"I still believe that 75% of the viewership is in Care facilities, and assisted living centers that turn the sets on in the morning and never change the channel. It is on CBS all day, so the patients and retirees can watch Regis, Rachel, Oprah, Price is Right, etc, etc."

I also think older people are set in their ways about getting most of their news from the 'Big Three' networks like they always have.  My own parents always watched ABC news until Gibson's caustic interview with Sarah Palin turned them off, so what did they do?  Switched to NBC of all things!  I keep trying to get them to switch to Fox -- they're conservatives themselves -- but they won't listen.

Old folks set in their ways

 Am not....set in my ways. Found NB, and learned, sort of, how to use this damn commputer.

ehehe

I got my parents to drop MSNBC and CNN.  Now they just watch FOX.  I went with the "have you heard about the...."  and when the answer was continously "no" they finally dumped them.

The kicker was this last weekend's rally for CNN and my parents.

"What rally?"

Here is another place where you have no choice about what you watch.  All the lobby tv's (I've ever walked by) on the Microsoft campus are tuned to MSNBC.

____________________________________________ 
The Emperor, he has no clothes

  It would also be

  It would also be interesting to see how many of their viewers actually use them as a primary news source.

good idea! boycott the sports coverage

Now you're thinking. Nice one.

They made their choice.

They decided to be advocacy groups instead of news outlets.   They chose sides and base their stories to support their ideology.     Nobody wants to listen to them talk down to us or tell us how wonderful Obama is every chance they get.    They go out of their way to insult more than half the country with their snippy little comments about the Tea Partiers and opponents to Obama while they lie right to our faces.     They are clearly not in the information business as they only pass out propaganda.     Even people who agree with their political tilt do not watch their broadcasts because they filter out to much news if they deem it too dangerous to Democrats.

No one trusts them.

 

" if Republicans are able to stop Barack Obama on health care, 'it will be his Waterloo, it will break him....-Sen. Jim DeMint

Someone needs to inform

Someone needs to inform Charles Gibson of this news. He doesn't stay up on things very well lately.

What the MSM has brought to

What the MSM has brought to my life to enrich it:

....hold on...um,...well, I mean,...<crickets>

Okay, nothing.

FOX News says that they report and we decide.  Works for me.

http://www.pelicanmarsh68.blogspot.com

Why is anybody surprised?

The quality of broadcast journalism ebbed about 1945 and has seriously eroded with the avalanche of moron talking heads.

How can anyone take Gibson, Couric or Williams seriously?  They have zero moral or intellectual integrity.  Katie is somewhat pretty but dumb as a box of hair.  Charlie and Brian strain at the microphone so badly that I wonder if they are in need of good laxatives.  The CNN crowd is so condescending, and MSNBC's crew collectively has more psychiatric problems than I could name without sounding like a data dump from the DSM-IV(R).

Anyone see a parallel

Anyone see a parallel between the evening newcast ratings and Obama's ratings?  Coinkydink, do you think?

Kat, I don't know about

Kat, I don't know about that but I have noticed that the folks at the Gallup poll don't update their poll every day when the Obaminator gets down near 50%. 

I thought it was a coincidence the first time it happened, but I've seen it 3 times now, so I believe that they are hiding the results if the results fall below 50% approval.

 

"Reason and persuasion are the only practical instruments against error.  To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged" - Thomas Jefferson

Suggestion for the media Lurkers

Being the cowardly repeaters that y'all are, try a different thought: drop the agenda driven drivel that you presently have and start REPORTING. Don't have a side, report only, drop the bias (pipedream), and see what happens. 'Course, you'll have to do this for about a month, with the hope that those of us who DON'T watch, might be drawn back by the few who have a self flaggelating idea of what news is.

 

Proud member of the MOB - Move Over Barack, we want our country back! 

There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V

I used to watch ABC news

I used to watch ABC news years back. I quit. Now, I only watch Fox, period. I have also shown many the ideological slant of the networks to others, and they too have left. Once one is shown that they are blatently being lied to or just not being reported to, well, these are the results. Much like the newspapers, only when they have nothing left will they catch on; but seriously, even then they won't care. So much for "Mainstream"..

Isn't it James?

Isn't it James O'Keefe?

Thanks ....

.... realized that I did that after I went away for a while. On two other occasions I've caught myself. Third time's a charm, I guess. It's fixed.

aww that's a shame, their

aww that's a shame, their ratings down. probably why they had to "retire" Charlie-Diane probably cheaper and saves them money, whoa was that a sexist comment? after how they treated Sarah Palin-so what!  Anyways, they better not cancel my favorite show, NCIS! JAJT

GE and NBC

I saw a report on CNBC today talking about a possible spin-off and IPO of NBC.  This could turn out to be very interesting.  Unless somebody like Soros buys it and lets it bleed dry to further some ends of his, we might see some changes.

If NBC has to stand on it's own, they can't bleed money forever. 

"I've sentenced boys younger then you to the gas chamber.  Didn't want to do it, but I felt I owed it to them."  Judge Smails 

great article, Tom Blumer

can you next do one on their declining ad revenues?

Green jobs

all three chains reported the coming boom in green jobs.  They can snag those.  ACORN has openings.  Many get whitehouse jobs.  I ma sure as things get sticky 'tween obama and aCORN and teddy care, they will fabricate more news flashes.

last year was down from 2007

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2008/10/22/drudge-notes-network-news-nosedive

Unless they stop regurgitating the same stories and get out and do reporting, this will not stop. 

 

21...State Media

Although that will change once we throw the socialists out.

Before we all start high

Before we all start high fiving each other on the "debacle" that is the government run media, look at the stats again. 

Nearly 20 million Americans still tune into to view these socialist propagandists drool on themselves each evening.  Then you add in the influence of the "lesser" propagandists CNN, HLN, MSNBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, the local affiliates of each of the "big" three, the newspapers, magazines, radio programs, and web sites and you have nearly half of Americans getting some if not all of the targeted messages of these people.

The sad truth is that the conservative message is barely audible.  For example, the health care issue has been and is controlled by the above media.  If you don't think so, tell me who authored, who is sponsoring and what is contained in the Republican health care alternative legislative efforts?  Tell me who, authored, who is sponsoring, and what is contained in the Republican cap and trade alternative legislative efforts?  

For heaven sakes, our own Republican candidate for president was largely picked for us by the above media.  That his legislative efforts as a senator and his stances on most issues, to this day, hardly qualified him as a conservative candidate was no matter.   

We have a lot of work ahead of us.  The need for web sites like this one is without question.  But, we need more.  We need a means for identifying who indeed is conservative at the local, state, and federal level for legislative office.  The sad truth is that we know more about those that oppose us than those that are with us. 

 

I can agree and disagree with you on this

On TV alone, you're somewhat right, even with Fox News's gains. But recently, Fox News has been outdrawing HLN, CNN, and MSNBC combined. That still leaves the Big 3 Nets and the entertainment side with huge lib advantages.

But talk radio, IMO, makes it about even (which is why it's so despised). Rush, Hannity, and probably Beck have audiences over 10 million, and there are 15-20 others behind them (Levin, Savage, Ingraham, etc.) who have pretty large followings.

I think it's fair to say that the conservative message is not as VISIBLE as it could be, but it's very audible. 

Too much, too scary

I am currently living in a priory with a number of friars over 70 years old.  They gather at 5.30pm everyday to watch ABC Nightly News.  They all read the NYT every morning.  When I gently point out the biases of these media outlets, they acknowledge the problems but still cannot bring themselves to trust the New Media. 

The internet presents a direct challenge to those who cut their teeth on the morning paper and the evening news.  The very notions of a 24 hour news cycle, spin doctors, and news blogs are all too much.  Too much information.  Too much yammering.  Too much to filter.  The task of juggling the data and its interpretation is scary.

My brother friars ask me, "How do you know what to read on the internet?"   I always say, "You have to get lost before you can be found.  Dive in!"

Fr. Philip, OP

http://www.hancaquam...

everything they say IS true Fr.

more sources the better but it's easy to see why that would not be most people's choice.

 

I do try to get mine from varies sources but once you get the basic facts and then read some accounts of supposedly the same story it can"make blood shoot out of your eyes". Got any duct tape?

Not a perfect answer, but a 2-word, one source answer ....

.... Matt Drudge.

What a Shock!

Major networks have been watering down their content, leaning farther to the left, ignoring important stories, misreprsenting content, holding themselves in the highest esteem without any standards, and essentially massaging their own egos for years.  Now, the public appears to be finally ready to stand up and push them off the ledge.  There's no sympathy here; they've been digging their own graves and their corporate parents have let them do it.  The worst example is GE and NBCU.  For Jeff Immelt to suggest that he has no input on the content of NBCU programming is laughable.  It has been just a mere coincidence that he has risen to the side of Obama at the exact same time that his network became Obama's personal cheering section and the liberal version of Fox News without facts.  The GE board of directors should be ashamed of what they have allowed to transpire here, and may NBC be the first to fold it's tent for lack of sustaining viewership. 

          ABC,

          ABC, CBS & NBC are commiting suicide. I guess the citizens are not as stupid as the big three & the govt. thought.