Battle of the Bloviators, Round 2
Keith Prepares to Unleash an Incoherent and Partisan Rant
Five FOX News primetime hosts are now outpacing Keith Olbermann in terms of viewer count. The numbers don’t lie, and neither should they surprise anybody. After all, Olbermann is the early forerunner in the contest of who can spread the most contagious Bush Derangement Syndrome. In his first 1/29/09 segment, he referred to Republicans as “lying” as well as “simpering and whining”, while he referred to President Obama’s statement on 2008 Wall Street bonuses as “very deserved, very commendable, and very dramatic”. 6 out of 8 of his segments prominently dumped on Republicans while canonizing Democrats, including 3 of 8 segments that directly involved Bush’s legacy or his closest allies. The following statistics were sourced from the Drudge Report on the night of January 29th, 2009 and reflected viewer numbers on that same night.
- FOXNEWS OREILLY 3,891,000
- FOXNEWS HANNITY 3,034,000
- FOXNEWS BECK 2,306,000
- FOXNEWS SHEP 2,299,000
- FOXNEWS GRETA 2,155,000
- MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,581,000
- CNN COOPER 1,559,000
- CNN KING 1,420,000
- CNN BLITZER 1,490,000
- CNNHN GRACE 1,435,000
- MSNBC MADDOW 1,398,000
For purposes of comparison, here is a piece written by yours truly on December 16, 2008 about the Olbermann-O’Reilly rivalry. Needless to say, O’Reilly won that fight and is now dancing in the end zone. The most important piece of information clear from a comparison of yesterday’s statistics and those from late 2008 is that Fox News primetime viewership has increased some 9%, and Hardball with Chris Matthews (an MSNBC show) has dropped off the top 11 primetime cable TV shows in terms of viewer numbers. Furthermore, O’Reilly garnered more than double the number of viewers than Olbermann did, and he even pulled off a victory in the vaunted 25-54 age group. As the nation marches off into a new age of partisanship to the beat of Obama’s drum, Keith’s angry and sometimes profane outbursts seem like relics of a bitter and clingy past, just like principled policy in regards to Israel and sensible trade policy. But we oughtn’t fear- “cleverness” shall now suffice for political, economic, and military clout. Unless, of course, the “new era of responsibility” isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be or that tidbit about extending a hand to figures with “unclenched fists” only applies to ruthless dictators and not Republican congressmen. But a proper liberal has a bad answer to every good question, as is demonstrated by an exchange I had with a devoted “progressive” Democrat earlier. “Why was the misery rate so high during Carter’s administration?” His reply: “Carter had to pay for years of Reaganomics.”
Keith Olbermann, prime time news
By: Age of Pericles
Popularity: 3% [?]
