5 ms·

CNN Fails to Stop Fall in Ratings

8 points by niravs 17y ago

josh33 17y ago
Incredible that Fox News is doing so well even when so many companies have joined a boycott on the channel. The market is definitely sending signals to CNN.
- daniel02216 17y ago
  That's because Fox News isn't really a news channel anymore, they're more of a 24/7 entertainment/reality TV thing pretending to be a news channel. No wonder their ratings are so much higher - news is boring compared to entertainment.
  - lurkinggrue 17y ago
    It also helps that Fox News is usually put on the analog or basic cable packages where MSNBC is put in digital and extended tiers. Less possible cable viewers for that channel.
roboneal 17y ago
I recall Bernard Shaw in a blacked out hotel room in Baghdad during the initial aerial assault of the Persian Gulf War. At the time, it felt new, immediate, and fresh. Now we get Anderson Cooper grandstanding in Haiti...now it feels somehow "staged" - news in the background, anchors in the foreground. CNN's best days are long behind them.
- chaosmachine 17y ago
  Funny thing about CNN's gulf war coverage.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m17MPJ2bQ9Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m17MPJ2bQ9Y
msie 17y ago
Well I'm glad that it isn't a race to the bottom for ratings by everybody. Of course the cure for CNN is a couple of reality shows.
WALoeIII 17y ago
I wonder how much of these news ratings are a reflection of the changing preferences of their primary audiences. Though I think CNN attempts to be as neutral as possible, I have always considered it a somewhat liberal network. Fox, on the other hand, has always come off as very conservative to me. As a young (26) libertarian/liberal I don't even own a TV, I get my news from nytimes.com, BBC and NPR driving around and links from my social circles. I think if I had a TV I would watch CNN. My father on the other hand has a TV, and its on Fox.
xal 17y ago
I think the cnn audience is ( used to be ) generally younger and more progressive and therefore has made the jump to online news earlier. This can probably not account for all of the decline however.
- _delirium 17y ago
  Hmm, in the 90s I always thought of the CNN audience as older and more conservative, but that was admittedly just an anecdotal impression. I mean, compare the audience that watches John Stewart to the one that watches Larry King.
gscott 17y ago
People don't want to think. They prefer to go with like minded individuals and groupthink which is easier, hence Fox's popularity. There was a time when it was fashionable to figure it out yourself but that went the way of Martha Stewart. While I get all of my news from the Naked News (.com) network I believe what was best about CNN was Lou Dobbs. At least you knew where he stood and if you liked that you would tune into it. It's just as easy to filter out the one-sidedness of news as to get something generic and make your own opinions.
- jackmoore 17y ago
  CNN is the perfect home for nonthinking individuals. They are in full-blown groupthink constantly reaching out to the bloggers and twitter and the guy on the street and begging the viewer for their emails/tweets/input. I know I've personally stopped watching CNN exactly because I desire news, not uninformed opinion.
jsz0 17y ago
The rise of cable news is probably one of the worst things that has ever happened to this country. It turns news into entertainment and sport. No mystery why Fox News is popular. The echo chamber of cable news has also dragged down the quality/substance of the network news programs as well. That's where the overwhelming majority of people get their TV news. Even newspapers are not immune. It's terrible that this small but rabid viewership of cable news is allowed to have such a disproportionate impact on the entire news industry. I think CNN would be wise to position themselves as a more serious substantive alternative. I don't see how they beat Fox News at entertainment/sport. I'm actually surprised MSNBC hasn't pulled ahead of CNN yet since they indulge in most of the same gimmicks as Fox News. That probably speaks more to the demographics of these rapid cable news junkies.
lurkinggrue 17y ago
Does anybody know a good source for the actual rating numbers?
pasbesoin 17y ago
When visiting friends who have CNN on, I don't find it to be news. It's hours worth of talking heads repetitively speculating and emoting on whatever is the "topic du jour" -- chosen for salaciousness (or similar, primitive appeal) rather than salience. The actual news content is pretty close to zero.

8 points by niravs 17y ago

Incredible that Fox News is doing so well even when so many companies have joined a boycott on the channel. The market is definitely sending signals to CNN.

daniel02216 17y ago
That's because Fox News isn't really a news channel anymore, they're more of a 24/7 entertainment/reality TV thing pretending to be a news channel. No wonder their ratings are so much higher - news is boring compared to entertainment.
- lurkinggrue 17y ago
  It also helps that Fox News is usually put on the analog or basic cable packages where MSNBC is put in digital and extended tiers. Less possible cable viewers for that channel.

roboneal 17y ago

I recall Bernard Shaw in a blacked out hotel room in Baghdad during the initial aerial assault of the Persian Gulf War. At the time, it felt new, immediate, and fresh. Now we get Anderson Cooper grandstanding in Haiti...now it feels somehow "staged" - news in the background, anchors in the foreground. CNN's best days are long behind them.

chaosmachine 17y ago
Funny thing about CNN's gulf war coverage.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m17MPJ2bQ9Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m17MPJ2bQ9Y

msie 17y ago

Well I'm glad that it isn't a race to the bottom for ratings by everybody. Of course the cure for CNN is a couple of reality shows.

WALoeIII 17y ago

I wonder how much of these news ratings are a reflection of the changing preferences of their primary audiences. Though I think CNN attempts to be as neutral as possible, I have always considered it a somewhat liberal network. Fox, on the other hand, has always come off as very conservative to me. As a young (26) libertarian/liberal I don't even own a TV, I get my news from nytimes.com, BBC and NPR driving around and links from my social circles. I think if I had a TV I would watch CNN. My father on the other hand has a TV, and its on Fox.

xal 17y ago

I think the cnn audience is ( used to be ) generally younger and more progressive and therefore has made the jump to online news earlier. This can probably not account for all of the decline however.

_delirium 17y ago
Hmm, in the 90s I always thought of the CNN audience as older and more conservative, but that was admittedly just an anecdotal impression. I mean, compare the audience that watches John Stewart to the one that watches Larry King.

gscott 17y ago

People don't want to think. They prefer to go with like minded individuals and groupthink which is easier, hence Fox's popularity. There was a time when it was fashionable to figure it out yourself but that went the way of Martha Stewart. While I get all of my news from the Naked News (.com) network I believe what was best about CNN was Lou Dobbs. At least you knew where he stood and if you liked that you would tune into it. It's just as easy to filter out the one-sidedness of news as to get something generic and make your own opinions.

jackmoore 17y ago
CNN is the perfect home for nonthinking individuals. They are in full-blown groupthink constantly reaching out to the bloggers and twitter and the guy on the street and begging the viewer for their emails/tweets/input. I know I've personally stopped watching CNN exactly because I desire news, not uninformed opinion.

jsz0 17y ago

The rise of cable news is probably one of the worst things that has ever happened to this country. It turns news into entertainment and sport. No mystery why Fox News is popular. The echo chamber of cable news has also dragged down the quality/substance of the network news programs as well. That's where the overwhelming majority of people get their TV news. Even newspapers are not immune. It's terrible that this small but rabid viewership of cable news is allowed to have such a disproportionate impact on the entire news industry. I think CNN would be wise to position themselves as a more serious substantive alternative. I don't see how they beat Fox News at entertainment/sport. I'm actually surprised MSNBC hasn't pulled ahead of CNN yet since they indulge in most of the same gimmicks as Fox News. That probably speaks more to the demographics of these rapid cable news junkies.

lurkinggrue 17y ago

Does anybody know a good source for the actual rating numbers?

pasbesoin 17y ago

When visiting friends who have CNN on, I don't find it to be news. It's hours worth of talking heads repetitively speculating and emoting on whatever is the "topic du jour" -- chosen for salaciousness (or similar, primitive appeal) rather than salience. The actual news content is pretty close to zero.