45 Responses to “O’Reilly vs. Olbermann Through Thursday, October 9”

1. Howdyhand says:

   October 10, 2008 at 3:37 pm

   Poor Keith he really should have stuck to ESPN…. That way he could have had some decent ratings. Not because of him you understand, the rest of the guys at ESPN could carry him!!! O’Reilly can be a pain in the ass but he gets the job done….
2. oldewok says:

   October 10, 2008 at 3:58 pm

   MSNBC must be very hard up to have a nut case like Olbermann making a fool out of him self and MSNBC every night…but he does provide Kool Aid to the emotionally needy.
3. JustStoppingBy says:

   October 10, 2008 at 5:29 pm

   I think you’re missing the fact that Keith has to compete with a number of other news organizations that try to be impartial. However, every good repub knows where to go to get lied to over and over again; The Fairly Unbalanced Fox News: We Spin, You Have No Real Hope Of Making An Informed Decision.
4. OMEGA919 says:

   October 10, 2008 at 6:48 pm

   Well, Keith is getting clobbered by O’Reilly. But MSNBC keeps him around because, simply, he’s still their highest rated show.
5. Chris Merrill says:

   October 10, 2008 at 7:31 pm

   JustStopping actually makes a point that makes me think about the competing slogans. FNC is pretty clearly against their slogan, but all MSNBC promises is ‘A fuller spectrum of news.’ Yes, their spectrum is a little one sided in prime time, but its got a slight opposite trend in the morning. They still trend left overall.
   I would note, however, that Olbermann isn’t really competing with organizations that try to be impartial. Most stations run their national newscasts at half past, and if i’m doing the math right, Olbermann is on at 6pm mountain time. hardly a place he is going to pick up an audience anyway. The only organization (and half of one at that) that is impartial in his slot is Ms. Brown over on CNN. CNNhn is running Nancy Grace at 8, which isn’t really relevant to politics.
   I also object to the characterization of FNC as ‘lying.’ True, they do resort to that from time to time, but generally they can get by on innuendo, a careful framing of the issues and a general neglect of anything negative.
6. Chris Merrill says:

   October 10, 2008 at 7:43 pm

   And Omega, I don’t really think MSNBC expects Keith to beat Bill. O’Reilly would have to basically drop off a cliff, after some sort of Imus-caliber gaffe. They expect Olbermann to continue to gain audience or at least hold the line, which is what FNC expects of O’Reilly. The goals of both organizations are profit and influence. They both have both.
   Yes, MSNBC would love to wake up and see that they have more viewers than Fox, but to do that, they would have to have something fundamentally (NOT ideologically) different. Audiences don’t shift in massive numbers unless the marketplace changes. This is where CNN is missing a huge opportunity. They could change the game tomorrow if they used the international channel more…
7. Ben Dover says:

   October 10, 2008 at 7:50 pm

   Olbermann is a pathetic mess. He is obsessed with Fox. Almost every show every night has something to do w/ Fox news. If you are watching MSNBC chances are you don’t like Fox anyway so who is he trying to impress. He will never go up in the ratings because he only appeals to left wing nut jobs. I will take Fox any day. At least they offer both sides of an issue regardless of what their actually agenda is. I only use the term agenda to appeal the conspiracy theorists who think Fox news is nothing but a right wing conspiracy to keep the stupid down.
8. madinirose says:

   October 10, 2008 at 8:18 pm

   Although O’Reilly is clobbering Counterdown in the ratings; there’s one thing that must be understood. When it comes to the 25-54 age demographic – O’Reilly and Countdown are in a closer battle. This is the demographic that O’Reilly himself has said is heavily coverted and this is an area where Countdown is giving the O’Reilly Factor a run for their money.
9. Fwankie says:

   October 10, 2008 at 8:44 pm

   Yeah and my dad can beat up your dad!
10. CLouis says:

    October 11, 2008 at 2:16 pm

    Is Olbermann still making a fool of himself? I watched a few minutes of his show once and that was enough. Next day I watched a few minutes of Chris Mathews stuffing his words into a guest’s mouth and I removed MSNBC from my program guide. Sounds like it’s still on the air; I must say that I don’t have any respect for anyone who would watch that station thinking they’re getting anything close to reality.
11. BILL says:

    October 11, 2008 at 3:34 pm

    I HAVE MORE RESPECT NOW FOR O’REILLY SINCE THE INTERVEIW WITH SEN OBAMA…BUT THE THE REST OF FOX IS SO ONE SIDED,,BORDERLINE RACIST
12. Sella David says:

    October 11, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    Keith Olberman and Chris Matthews are pitifull. I no longer watch MSNBC because I believe they are one sided.
13. Pink Bear says:

    October 11, 2008 at 9:22 pm

    I have all 5 of my TV’s on Keith O. and Rachel Maddow every single day.

    They beat Fox in my household so I believe that someone is paying tvbvytheratings.com off and I bet Fox it guilty of something fishy.
14. Blazermaniac says:

    October 12, 2008 at 9:27 am

    Who cares about a 25-54 ratings demographic. The bottom line is that Olbermann is getting whipped by O’Reilly. That also tells you about the rest of the MSNBC stuff, when Olbermann is their highest rated show. And it’s the democrats whom cry racist. Olbermann should just stick to sports. Then again, he had it made at ESPN and blew it there.
15. Julia says:

    October 12, 2008 at 9:31 am

    Um, it’s the advertisers, the people who pay the bills, who care about the demos.
16. Bill Gorman says:

    October 12, 2008 at 9:33 am

    Blazermaniac, One thing I like about these cable news ratings is that there’s something for everyone to boast about (or complain about).

    1. Adults 25-54. That’s who makes the money for the news networks. The size of that age demo is directly related to the advertising income for a show.

    2. Viewers. More people watching is more people watching. Simple as that.

    Boast/complain away!
17. David4 says:

    October 12, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    People watch Bill for the same reason you look at the car crash, he is a car crash of TV shows.
18. Pink Bear says:

    October 12, 2008 at 4:53 pm

    i’ve had all my five TV’s on MSNBC all day long (even the Lockup shows) so I sure hope I’m counted to make MSNBC number one.

    We are in our 70s so I hope they count us.

    Hope Obama will stop Fox from broadcasting or at least keep an eye on them when he is elected. They must be stopped like Hitler.
19. Turtle says:

    October 12, 2008 at 5:59 pm

    Pink Bear… well that shows how open minded you are having all your TV’s locked to one show. Your are certainly getting a balanced view of everything.
    If Obama does win and he soes do what you say re. broadcasting then you are right he will become another Hitler. He already has the children singing for him and people cheering no matter what he says. He could say its raining and they would cheer. Half of you are not listening to what he says you just want Change thing is you havnt got a clue what sort of change his will bring.\

    My parents had a saying “Show me your Friends and I’ll tell you your charactor”. Problem for Obuma is that when people find out who is friends are he drops them like hot potatoes.
20. Franklyn says:

    October 12, 2008 at 9:02 pm

    Great gift idea for O’Reilly faithful this Christmas: “FACTOR” DROOL BIBS! LOLOLOL!
21. Pat says:

    October 14, 2008 at 3:58 pm

    He’s very competitive in the younger demographic that advertisers want. It’s hard to change an older persons mind thus no new products and no changing of the channel. Regardless, Olbermann gives more real news than O’Reilly and his show is live and not pre-recorded.
22. scooter says:

    October 14, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    i’m sorry, is it keith or rachel. they seem to love keith so much at ms that they cloned him and held out that one chromo at the right time and kept him female for 2 more hours each night. don’t chnge that channel we’ll try 4 hours of keithrachel to compete w fox. seriously MS try to differentiate formats between snide and snide. by the way how much time does rachel spend in the mirror perfecting those contrived smirks,grimaces, and eyebrow movements.
23. old man says:

    October 15, 2008 at 11:19 am

    Just like in the 1880s, 1920-30s, 1950s-60s, and after Ronald McRaygun killed the Fairness Doctrine, the Riechest people used their money to buy and put forth martinets that would give people who were afraid to use their brains a way to follow the Riechest, since, after all, The Riechest people are Obviously Gawd’s Chosen and therefore we should do what the Riechest want of us.

    “Onward Riechist Sojurs, marching as to war, with the brains of slugs, leading us to war.”
24. Pink Bear says:

    October 15, 2008 at 11:22 am

    STop the Fox Madness!

    Vote for Obama.
25. Turtle says:

    October 16, 2008 at 11:08 am

    Pink Bear.. have you looked at the ratings for MSNBC lately or is your head still in the clouds. Talk about fair and balanced they have never heard of either of those words. If they dont like a news story that would be against Obuma they ignore it… Now thats really clever. Keep their followers ignorant just brain washed….
26. randy says:

    October 16, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    Pink Bear? You sound more like Pink Elephant because you’re obviously drunk off your rocker.
27. rick says:

    October 16, 2008 at 9:49 pm

    You people who refuse to watch Keith Olbermann are really missing something great. This is BRILLIANT comedy. A baseball card collector talking politics. HYSTERICAL!!!! One night I was watching old botox face and I swear I saw his expression change. Of course it was probably just gas.
28. Diva says:

    October 17, 2008 at 6:15 pm

    Keith ROCKS! I Luv the 21st Century Political News!!! Way to go MSNBC…

    Don’t worry, it will catch on even more – The point is, more are watching and it is making a good affect on Billo-the clown’s ratings…. Go Keith and Rachel
29. Roy says:

    October 19, 2008 at 7:33 am

    The 25-54 group is where the meat is. I expect by the end of this election Olbermann will catch or surpass him. MSNBC should hang on to this guy, in the most covted age group he is doing the job
30. experience says:

    October 23, 2008 at 11:26 am

    Keith rocks and is consistently competing with bill O’reilly in the 25-54 age group which means what? the future baby!!! O’Reilly will always do well with the ignorant, low-informed, red-neck, (did I say ignorant), homophobes (which is okay) of the World. Let them have him! Let Fox News have Glenn Beck too, hopefully CNN can get someone decent back on the air during that slot. Hey Fox, lure Nancy Grace too!!!!!
31. helen says:

    October 23, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    My night would not be complete without keith, he backs up everything he reports with facts. I guess some people just can’t stand the truth or wouldn’t know it even if Jesus Christ told them
32. helen says:

    October 23, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    Rachel Maddow is the greatest.
33. DjP says:

    October 23, 2008 at 11:06 pm

    i believe both sides are either one way or the other…fox is right sided and msnbc is left sided… both r guilty… i studied both networks and i gathered that msnbc leans toward obama/biden

    fox news leans towards mc cain/palin

    its jus that obvious

    i go between both and get my info and decided from what i think after i see both sides

    different things errk me from both sides about equal..

    psss… chris mattews needs someone to tell him…that he spits while he talks on national friggin tv

    i dont get it… its disgusting
34. Bob, Laguna Niguel says:

    October 27, 2008 at 3:53 pm

    You may not like O’Reilly, but at least he presents both sides of an issue.
    All MSMBC does is praise the “left”and bad mouthFoxNews.

    How anyone couild watch Keith Oberman is beyond me.
35. Enigo Montoya says:

    October 28, 2008 at 6:44 am

    Countdown exists and is thriving because of The Factor and Fox News. For the last ~8 years, Americans have had to suffer an extreme right turn in our country spurred on by Fox and right-wing radio and it’s nice to hear a backlash against it (democracy and all that, you know?). Olberman/Maddow are the closest thing to the infamous “Liberal Media Elite” on TV. Now if only someone would throw some money at some decent progressive radio in my area (Wash. DC!?!).

    I don’t know if it’s possible for Olberman, et al. to ever have comparable ratings to the right-wing hatemongers, simply because hate and division are ideas that liberals resist, not embrace. The overarching idea is “live and let live”, an idea that seems difficult for members of the current conservative movement to understand.
36. mr C says:

    October 28, 2008 at 11:14 pm

    I am in the young age group, mid twenties. Currently working on my masters degree. I can honestly say that MSNBC is effectively brainwashing my generation. The democrats plan on limiting free speech, the right to own firearms, and redistribute the wealth of the citizenry. Why do people defend those who want to throw our constitution out the window? I blame it all on Bush. His actions were bad for the party and now the “crazies” are going to take over. It is going to be a sad day for America. I am not a right wing ideologue, but I am smart enough to see that the extreme left is taking over and it is not good. What happened to the center? What happened to moderate Democrats? I have heard on multiple occasions where Olberman twisted the facts on his reporting in order to make documents or findings have the opposite results if they favored democrats. We need honest reporting. I am not saying that Bill is 100% honest, but he is by far, by far more honest than Keith. Keith Olberman is not reporter, he is a propagandist.
37. Mary the Landlord says:

    October 29, 2008 at 1:20 am

    Fox has always made me a bit wary since it called Ohio for Bush when voting in Ohio had not yet been completed, thus removing motivation for voters to show up at the polls. This was discovered too late to do damage control and I tend to lean toward the opinion that it was a deliberate call. Also, I noted that the key figures in the corporation include a number of right wing, extremely wealthy people. K. Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of News Corp, reportedly is a canny businessman. In 1999, The Economist reported that Newscorp Investments had made over 2 billion dollars in profits over the past 11 years, but paid no net corporation tax. The complexity of the corporate structure, international scope and use of offshore tax havens allowed it to avoid taxation.
    So here is my point; Mary the Landlord pays 33% of her gross income for taxes to support the government,programs and infrastructure that has made us the greatest country in the world, giving people the leisure to experiment and invent, rather than scratch to provide a minimal subsistence for their family. In addition, my business pays higher interest rates when I borrow money. Newscorp is allowed to shelter their money so they pay next to nothing. So, I am all for having my taxes cut and looking for Newscorp and the other top heavy corporations to pony up their fair share.
    It saddens me to watch my tenants work two and three jobs just to pay bills from month to month, never mind health insurance. Single mothers especially seem to be targeted. It is difficult to raise a child that reaches his or her potential when you are too tired to interact with them and have no money to pay for basketball, soccer, or football equipment, science supplies, gas and a car to travel to and from play practice, and other school functions.
    It is tough for me to listen to Mr. O’Reilly when he espouses Republican economics. I wonder if the folks that watch his program realize that they are the sole breadwinners in this country for the most part. The Republican Party has given us the trickle down economic plan and we are becoming a subsistence
    populace, while the sheltered few pay much less and do not invest in our country, contrary to Mr. O’Reilly’s theories. Cindy McCain, in 2006, paid around 25% of her income in taxes. Why am I paying 33%?
    In summary, Mr. O’Reilly espouses a tax plan that favors the very wealthy. As for the McCain tax cuts, he plans to cut taxes $19.00 if your income is below $19,000. If you make 2 million, you would receive a tax cut of about $300,000. If socialism is spreading the cost of running this wonderful country to include having the wealthier citizens paying the same percentage that I pay for my taxes, well, call me Mary the Socialist Landlord. I back Senator Obama, and plan to actively support his policies to bring us into the future.
    Therefore, although I enjoy the sniping they pass back and forth, I firmly believe that Mr. Olberman has a better grasp on the realities that we (my tenants and I) face every day. There has to be a “redistribution”. Throwing more money at the corporations has not resulted in the jobs we need. We need to fund research, support job growth in evolving fields, teach the economics of living within our means (banks, insurers, congressmen included), etc. etc., and giving credit and interest breaks to those of us running small businesses. Let’s try spreading the wealth a little. I don’t think Mr. O’Reilly or Mr. Olberman would have a hard time donating a little more to the IRS. After all, their income derives from dissecting the public servants that the IRS pays to look out for our interests. Let us little folks retain enough of our hard earned wealth to support our families in dignity. I work just as many hours as the whiners I see on the McCain ads, and so do my tenants. So why do they get to pay a smaller percentage of their income than we do? Answer me that, Mr. O’Reilly.
38. Mary the Landlord says:

    October 29, 2008 at 1:47 am

    I have one additional comment for mr. C (Mr. C to the grammatically correct).
    First, I hope that you learn to write a complete sentence. If you are indeed in graduate school this must be a priority for you.
    Further, I own several guns and my son was in the Air Force and carries a concealed weapon with a legitimate permit. I am going to take the high road and assume you were no talking about Obama’s plan to make it more difficult for the two skinheads that were going to behead black people and drive their car through an Obama rally mowing down innocent people and try to assassinate a sitting senator of our country.
    I do agree, however, that the facts are somewhat under or over reported by both Mr. Olberman and Mr. O’Reilly. Since I am a proud member of the hated “intellectual elite” I watch their programs, as well as other commentators’, read a wide variety of printed and internet news, and derive my beliefs based on critical analysis of what I have assimilated from many sources. The trouble is, so many people watch one or the other of these stations and basically believe everything they hear. I personally think that you should take a page from my book. I research other sources and have found Mr. O’Reilly a more profound propagandist than Mr. Olberman. Furthermore, neither is perfect, but if you research the points they make, it is clear wherein the truth really lies, usually somewhere in between. I also want Mr. O’Reilly to unconditionally condemn the Nazi skinheads and the racist “B” McCain volunteer that falsely accused a black man of assaulting her. For that matter, ask your candidate to speak up and decry this overt racism as well. If this is ignored it allows others to feel justified in planning other abhorrent acts.
    I really do think that it might be a good idea to brush up on your writing skills, unless you don’t plan to ever communicate in writing. The left wing crazies such as myself give more credence to well-written commentary.
39. Mister says:

    October 29, 2008 at 8:07 pm

    I believe that generally the media in our country is liberal. So do most Americans: 75% say the media has been favorable toward Barack Obama. O’Reilly may look like “more of a propagandist” because his views are so far off from the benchmark for the media in our country, but I think that if you are more careful in your analysis, you will find that his views are more moderate than those of Keith Olbermann. Olbermann’s views are certainly more typical, but they are not necessarily more towards the center. They are just more towards the benchmark.

    Your method for deriving political views is flawed because you are basing your analysis off of sources which are generally skewed to the left. If you want a truly objective picture you should balance the number of conservative sources with liberal sources. That should ensure the most objective data for your analysis.
40. Don says:

    October 30, 2008 at 6:25 am

    Dunderhead Rachel Maddow (who try’s to sound like Olbermann) is a yes woman for Olbermann who are so far left and they wonder why they are sucking air when it comes to competing with Fox News and O’Reilly. They only have people on that are in the tank with their thinking as well as being obsessed with Bill O’Reilly’s new contract, what he’s doing, and Fox News in general, they are both pathetic. Keep doing your thing looking like like idiots. Insert foot in mouth would be a great slogan for both!!
41. Jonathan Harris says:

    October 30, 2008 at 11:20 am

    Keith should get a decent job picking peaches or serving burgers. His show is so bias that no one who’s rational wants to watch it.
42. Chris says:

    October 31, 2008 at 9:00 pm

    Rachel Maddow is a woman, really?????
43. baretruth says:

    November 1, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    That Fox News backers are actually stupid enough to try to back their Fake News carpet baggers makes me LOL. The emperor has no clothes, but you have see reality as it is, not the way you are told it is. Sad, so sad, that GOP wackos actually believe O’Reilly’s B.S. Fox is the laughing stock of the world — its viewers are head cases in dire need of indedpendent thinking. Karl Rove is watching you, Fox viewers, don’t change the channel or you’ll be Swift-boated and your life destroyed — same as what happened to John McCain in the 2000 election. Four more years, the GOP deserves… yeah right, and Palin has a high IQ.
44. nan says:

    November 7, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    countdown has gone from worst to worst bottom. you only tune in to watch olbermann, followed by maddow make funny faces while they spout unchecked reports-i can’t do anymore-don’t know anyone that can actually stand to watch them
45. Outpost Sierra says:

    February 5, 2009 at 7:01 pm

    Yes, Bill Orally does have higher ratings, but that does not translate into his viewers being more informed or intellectually capable of critical and nuanced thinking. Example- The National Enquirer drew more readers than those who read Scientific American, but it goes without saying that the latter are from the deeper side of the gene pool. Don’t misunderstand my intent in writing this… it is not to persuade those who are in Billy’s camp… the reason they listen to him in the first place is they lack certain qualities that make the rest of us human… the main one being the ability to reason. We democrats / liberals / progressives must just accept the fact that there will always be degenerates in the society we find ourselves in. You (we) cannot argue with these “creatures”, but we can strive to marginalize them through our political system (of which we now control) and the education (secular) of our nation’s youth.