Riding a ratings wave from “Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” a program that takes strong issue with the Bush administration, MSNBC is increasingly seeking to showcase its nighttime lineup as a welcome haven for viewers of a similar mind.
Here are the numbers: Bill O'Reilly is number 1 with over 2 million viewers. Olberman is number 20 with 677,000 viewers.
The other MSNMC host who foams at the mouth daily is Chris Matthews, listed at number 34 with about 400,000 viewers.
With the exception of two CNN shows, CNN Presents and Larry King Live, all the top 15 rated cable shows are on FOX. You have to go to number 16, Lou Dobbs Tonight, before the other networks begin to be noticed.
Even the NY Times is forced to admit (headline "Circulation Plunge") that the dead tree media, including the NY Times has been losing readers even as the population is expanding.
Conservatives have been abandoning a medium that has been insulting them for generations. And why not? By the time the so-called "news" gets delivered to your door, reality has passed on. People are keeping up with events as they occur via the Internet. Reuters: Poll finds nearly 80 percent of U.S. adults go online.
By going on-line adults in the US may find themselves insulted, but they don't have to pay for the privilege and they find people of like minds who inform them of events in the world without the filter of editors and publishers who decide what the "masses" should know.
But the focus on the NY Times on media failures like Olberman and Matthews may explain why the Times itself - and its media allies - are failing. The article focuses on a demographic where the disparity between the top show and the 20th show is only 2 to 1 rather than 4 to 1. If that is the NY Times measure of success, don't weep for the Sulzberger family. People that stupid deserve to lose.
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