Quote from bugscoe:
It appears the only ones missing out will be the advertisers.
Fox News Surges in Ratings Thanks to Obama
Sunday, August 16, 2009 6:24 PM
O'Reilly said. "Us, that's who. Our ratings are already soaring because we don't denigrate the protesters, the way a lot of other TV news organizations do. They're dying. We're on fire."
Fox's strong year hasn't come without controversy. Some critics worry about overheated rhetoric â Beck has called Obama a racist and joked about poisoning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi â and suggest Fox has helped lead, instead of just follow, the president's opponents.
Fox's viewership is up 11 percent over last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. CNN and MSNBC, which benefited from interest in the campaign last year, are down. O'Reilly, who already had cable news' most popular show, Beck, and Sean Hannity lead the way.
Since Fox is already the network of choice for conservatives, the ratings indicate it must be drawing in more moderates and even liberals, said Bernard Goldberg, best-selling author of "A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (and Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media" and other books that criticize liberal media bias. The poor economy and the administration's ambitious agenda have made people anxious and searching for a media outlet that understands them, he said.
During this spring's anti-tax "tea party" demonstrations, Goldberg said he found many networks' coverage disgraceful. But he was also critical of Fox, which he said "didn't simply cover the tea parties, they championed them."
Fox also declined to make an executive available to be interviewed for this story.
The addition of Beck and dropping of Hannity's liberal co-host Alan Colmes has increased anti-Obama time on Fox.
With Obama in office, he's bullish about Fox's future.
© 2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
