Nielsen: MSNBC, CNN Ratings Plummet

MSNBC and CNN’s primetime news programs have suffered an incredible nosedive in ratings since Barack Obama was elected president, Newsmax reports.

Ratings for “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” on MSNBC at 8 p.m. have plunged a dizzying 42 percent since October, shortly before the election. CNN’s 8 p.m. show, now being hosted by Roland Martin, has seen a 49 percent plunge over that time period, while “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News has dipped only 15 percent, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Bill O’Reilly’s 8 p.m. show remains the top-rated cable news program, averaging 2,650,000 million households per night in April, more than the combined totals for Olbermann’s program (938,000) and CNN’s 8 p.m. offering (613,000) — with more than a million households to spare.

In the key demographic of viewers 25 to 54 years old, Olbermann has lost 53 percent of his average nightly audience, a precipitous plunge. Rachel Maddow, who follows him at 9 p.m. on MSNBC, has lost an astounding 65 percent of her 25-to-54 audience since October, and her 819,000 households in April compare poorly to Sean Hannity’s 1,953,000 households on Fox.

O’Reilly has also trounced Olbermann among viewers aged 35 to 64 in April, with 1,724,000 viewers, down 19 percent since October. Olbermann suffered a 49 percent drop in that demographic and had 1,151,000 viewers.

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Nielsen: CNN's Weakest Showing Ever

From Nielsen Media Research ~ CNN is poised to finish March third in the prime-time weeknight ratings behind Fox News Channel and MSNBC, the first time this has ever happened for the channel that pioneered the cable news genre nearly three decades ago.

CNN says its overall business is healthy and it is not straying from its straight news path. But it is suffering more audience erosion than its rivals since the peak days of the presidential election, further proof that the opinionated prime-time shows on Fox and MSNBC have greater audience loyalty.

CNN's weekday prime-time ratings are relatively flat compared to last year during the primary campaign, up 1 percent from March 2008, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Fox's ratings have jumped 30 percent and MSNBC, the new No. 2, is up 24 percent.

The biggest growth in cable news is for CNN's partner, Headline News, which is up 62 percent.

Fox remains on a mountain above its two closest competitors, with its prime-time audience in March more than that of MSNBC and CNN combined. "The O'Reilly Factor" has done particularly well, keeping more of its postelection audience than anything else on CNN and MSNBC.

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Soledad O'Brien: In The Bag For Obama

The newest example of a cable network anchor in the bag for Barack Obama comes in the form of CNN's Soledad O'Brien, who today has a new hangup about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Palin, O'Brien has repeated dozens of times, has only had a U. S. passport for a year and a half and has only traveled to two countries.

This elitist view has fueled yet another media backlash, primarily among conservative bloggers: "The average American doesn't have a passport," wrote one. "Only rich people and people like O'Brien, who travel the world on their corporate credit cards, have them."

O'Brien, among the CNN personnel whose worshipful reports about Obama and Joe Biden mark her as among those in the media most supportive of the Democrat team, has attacked Palin relentlessly since last Friday's announcement she was John McCain's vice presidential running mate.

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CNN's Blitzer Crusades Against Sarah Palin

CNN's Wolf Blitzer appears on a personal crusade to smear Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Today, he spent hour after hour returning to a story about Palin's 17-year-old daughter and suggesting her situation somehow means Palin is a flawed candidate.

While MSNBC and Fox News, for the most part, focused on Hurricane Gustav and the Republican convention in Minnesota, Blitzer returned again and again to Palin, repeating himself over and over and insisting that a bewildered floor reporter and guests discuss the issue.

Conservative Republican Bill Bennett told Blitzer the topic didn't deserve discussion on CNN, but Blitzer blew him off and continued to press the issue. Even hardcore Democrat James Carville indicated he didn't believe it worthy of discussion, but Blitzer again persisted.

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Is The Worm (CNN) Beginning To Turn?

By Jonathan Mann/CNN ~ You can't keep a good man down.

While the media regard John McCain, above, as trailing his Democrat rival Barack Obama, pollsters have them tied.

That might be the simplest way to sum up John McCain's campaign for the US presidency right now. He's not winning, but he's running stronger than anyone knows how to explain.

McCain is a fascinating figure with a compelling personal and political story.

He was a feisty young pilot shot-down in Vietnam, where he was imprisoned for nearly six years. As a 71-year-old Senator, he is still an outspoken figure, willing to wage a lonely battle without, or even against, his own party.

Right now, McCain is in an uphill fight for the presidency and ought to be doing badly, hurt by an unpopular Republican incumbent, two wars and a terrible economy.

By contrast, Barack Obama is a charismatic candidate who is setting records for fundraising and voter turnout, buoyed by enormous media attention.

But McCain, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, is ahead among likely voters, 49 to 45 per cent.

Other polls still give the lead to Obama but even they routinely give him only a few percentage points and none puts him above 50 per cent.

That's even more remarkable after that tumultuous week of travel, during which Obama was virtually endorsed by the prime minister of Iraq, greeted by a crowd of 200,000 people in Germany, and given breathless coverage by the American media all the way.

The pollsters are looking at the race very differently from the way the press is, and they see something close to a tie.

CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser says the Democrats are "dumbfounded that this election is closer than it should be, at least according to the national polls."

So what's happening?

Obviously, people like McCain personally in a way that has nothing to do with his party, his support for President Bush or the wars the president has been leading.

But also, think of the US election as a referendum on Obama that Obama isn't winning. He's doing well, but many Americans still won't vote for him and McCain is the beneficiary.

A lot of Americans simply like John McCain and aren't ready to back Obama.

Is that enough to get a man elected president? It might be.

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Tony Snow Joins CNN As Commentator

Former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow has joined CNN as a conservative commentator.

Snow's new duties return him to the world of punditry he occupied for 10 years at CNN rival Fox News Channel. In addition, he was host of Fox broadcasting's "Fox News Sunday."
Before joining Fox, Snow was a substitute co-host for CNN's "Crossfire."

Snow developed a syndicated radio talk show that was heard locally but abandoned it when he became press secretary.

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CNN Poll: Public Affirms Right To Own Firearms

Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they believe the Constitution guarantees each person the right to own a gun, according to a new CNN poll.

In all, 65 percent said they thought the Constitution ensures that right, and 31 percent said it did not. The question had a sampling error of plus-or-minus 3 points.

Men and people living in rural areas were most likely to say the Constitution guarantees the right to own a gun. Nearly three quarters of men (72 percent) said they believed so, versus 26 percent who did not. More than half (58 percent) of women said they believed so, versus slightly more than a third (35 percent) who did not. That question had a sampling error of plus-or-minus 4.5 points. Among rural dwellers, 73 percent said they agreed, versus 64 percent and only half (50 percent) of city dwellers who thought the same. That question had a sampling error of plus-or-minus 7 points.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution says: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Some have interpreted those words to mean that everyone has a right to own a gun; others say the amendment protects only the right of citizens to form a militia.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation telephone poll of 1,002 U.S. adults was carried out December 6 - 9.

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Blogosphere Buzzes About CNN GOP 'Debate'

The conservative blogosphere is abuzz today about last night's Republican presidential "debate" on CNN. Locally, Red Stater has taken the lead, posting today, "Michelle Malkin has the complete unraveling of the CNN youtube Republican debate last night. It seems now that the light of day is shown on the so-called unbiased and randomly chosen questions...the Democrat stench is everywhere you turn, along with their greasy fingerprints. The homosexual General (Keith Kerr) that asked the question on homosexuals serving in the military works for the Hillary Clinton campaign. The girl who asked what the punishment should be for an abortion if Roe V Wade were overturned is a John Edwards supporter. The so-called Log Cabin Republican questioner is a Obama supporter. The woman letting her kids play with deadly leaded toys while she asks WHAT Republicans are going to do about it... is a prominent Union activist in the Edwards camp. The kid that asked the gun question and caught the tossed rifle.... a film maker and not a lifetime member of the NRA as he claimed... and on it goes."

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