No balloon boy this week, and the 5pm ratings pattern reverts to the recent norm.
Glenn Beck vs. The Combined Competition TV Ratings Since He Moved To Fox News:
The trend lines above are 30 day moving averages. These charts are a collaboration between two of our readers. Reader Dave created the chart using the data patiently assembled by reader MikeS.
For complete information on all cable news ratings check our daily cable news ratings posts.
Anybody else wanting to produce trend charts of any of our other data, drop me an email.
Nielsen Cable Network Coverage Estimates (as of September, 2009)
CNN/HLN: 99.10 million HHs
CNBC: 96.78 million HHs
FNC: 96.26 million HHs
MSNBC: 92.64 million HHs
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
Personal attacks in the comments will be deleted. Political comments will be deleted. If I have to delete your comments more than once I will just block you from commenting.
If you find the comments to be unpleasant, please just don’t read them. – Bill
Oh oh….the President is going to have another sleepless night again. You go get them Glenn…..
Man, that’s just embarrasing. FOX doesn’t even have any competition anymore.
I wonder why Becks ratings skyrocketed in august.
Glenn is right. Check out the Press
Enterprise Newspaper in Riverside, CA. The
Press DROPPED the retirees’ medical insurance
plan effective 1-1-10! It’s starting to
happen earlier than I ever dreamed! It will
be a disaster for seniors on medicare.
Is there informations about the age structure of Becks viewers?
I can see, that lot and lot of older people who are willing to go with someone *they* believe talks “straight” to them in a (seemingly) honest and “logical” way. What should they do anyway at 5pm? The west is getting older and older and Beck seems to have found a very republican-ish target audience who can’t get enough of him. He is quite consistent with his shows, and surely a character.
The “Alternatives” have to many other things todo at 5pm I guess, and much more different things they CAN do than watch TV.
Becks fame in August came probably with the Town Hall madness.
SteveR
But Beck gets roughly 65% of the younger viewers (24-55). The others get only 45% combined. So I’m not sure its just “old people” watching.
People are waking up (as Glenn puts it). I listened to his radio show for years. He’s neither republican or democrat, which aids him greatly in his appeal. Its easier to listen to someone who is on both sides of the map, showing equal dislike for both parties. For anyone new – he never sang the praises of Bush, so this is not an Obama hate party. Go Glenn! Make people think!
Glenn is showing us exactly how they are trying to take over the country and spin us into some weird socialist-communist-marxist hybrid.
Anybody that wants to talk politics can join our forum created by user Mike B:
http://www.voyagertrans.com/forum1/index.php
Its pretty liberal free, so its fair, balances level head discussion there! The liberals can’t figure out the internet so far as to join up it seems or are afraid of fair and balanced discussions.
Beck tells it like it is folks.
My daughter is @ the college of W&M in Virginia. she says all the dem college students are shocked that they voted for this guy. she has been in the Young Republicans club on campus for two years and she noted the past three months “membership is way up”
I guess the kiddies are waking up and realizing this is their problem in the not too distant future.
The Fox oriented right wingers will always go to watch and listen to content that re-inforces their fears and opinions. The rest of America is interested in the challenge of watching and hearing a variety of facts and perspectives. This explains the ditto-heads going to Fox – hence their higher ratings – and everyone else dividing their time across other news networks
While Fox is busy showing a wide range of news items, the others are busy opining about Fox. As a viewer interested in fair and balanced news, I prefer watching the real thing instead of getting badly digested seconds.
Glenn has personality, heart and a sense of humor. It is painful to watch anyone on MSNBC’s primetime lineup– as they think they are funny but are not at all. It’s very uncomfortable and weird.
Man, if Beck was a stock, I’d be jumping in.
Just in case anyone is interested, Chris Matthews’ viewership on 10/20 was 409k … that data point on the first chart (green dot) is obscured by HLN (purple dot) which had 398k viewers.
It’s not competition until the sides are somewhat competitive. Beck annihilates Matthews daily. Beck has no competitors.
Charlie, liberals haven’t figured out the Internet yet because most of them are still trying to master their second language – English.
If you ever watch Beck, the guy is awesome, he can make you feel like your in class learning something and he makes it entertaining while you listening. Beck is also going heavy after the female viewer, having moms etc on his show, very smart.
Oh I really want to see if or how Glenn will report on this. http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93122?fp=1
Sharon,
No, Glenn won’t cover that story! Why would he? It’s a stupid story that has no significance or interest to people. Let Olbermann and Maddow cover it. They like to spend all their time complaining about Rush, FOX, etc, and covering insignificant stories that don’t interest viewers. That’s precisely why their ratings are in the tank. Nobody’s interested … it’s a perfect story for MSNBC! You should send it to them.
BTW, I have a great idea! Why don’t you do us all a favor and vow to hold your breath until Glenn Beck covers this story?
To everyone else here, forgive me. I know I should just ignore Sharon, but sometimes I just can’t resist. She is just too infuriating! I suspect that is her goal … to infuriate people with her mindless dribble. It guess it worked again.
Oh Coda, give here a break. She probably spent her whole day trying to find something and that was the best she could do. Really sad if you think about it.
Haha, is that the best you can do Sharon? that was pathetic, wow, better alert the the world about that story. You had to really search for that story, must of took you all day.
Just found it a few minutes before I posted it. Still waiting to see Fox report on teh Franken amendment. It shows how little research Rush or most of his fellow “commentators” actually do.
I am far from a “Ditto Head” but I heard the story about the alleged Obama thesis on Limbaugh and believed it. Before you dismiss me as a tea-bagging redneck think about how this is actually a sad commentary on this president. If a story came out that Reagan, Bush, or even Clinton or a Kennedy had written a thesis that expressed “doubts” about the “so-called founders”, NOBODY would believe it was true. With this president and the people surrounding him… It sounded very plausible.
As far as Beck covering the story… It’s not a story unless you are trying to belittle Rush Limbaugh.
Sharon, no one cares about a bill that has a 100% chance of not passing. Why would any regular American care? Think about it. Don’t you think there are more important things happening, like, I don’t know – healthcare, Afghanistan, our deficit, unemployment rate, gov spending, ect.
Did MSNBC cover this? Maybe thats why there ratings royally suck. They report news that no one cares about.
Sharon,
Don’t worry, I suspect FOX will soon run a story about the Frankin Amendment that you’ve been harping about for many days now.
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/report-frankens-rape-amendment-may-be-stripped-from-defense-bill.php
You see, the Democratic Charmin of the Appropriations Committee, Daniel Inouye (D-HI), is trying strip the amendment out of the bill even though it passed with bipartisan support in the Senate. Also, when White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about Obama’s position on the amendment, he took a pass and referred questions to the Pentagon, who is opposes it.
The Democrats are continuously complaining that they can’t get any Republican votes. Now, despite the fact that Al Frankin politicized this issue, the real story here is that Al STILL got 10 Republicans (including Texas, Iowa, Arkansas, etc.) to vote for it making it one of the most bipartisan votes yet for the current session of the Senate. Sadly, politics and special interests on the DEMOCRATIC side are trying to derail it and Obama won’t even give his opinion. Transparency … RIGHT! Yeah, I hope FOX picks up the story too! Glenn’s plate is pretty full right now, but this one would be right up his ally!
“Strangely, 30 Republican senators opposed this amendment, and the amendment’s only opponents were Republicans. The amendment is an important and yet small and glaringly obvious move towards combating rape.”
That story ?
What is still is sad is that 30 republicans couldn’t vote for it and only one would give a reason why, “it was a policitical attack.” One demoract whose voting record has vavored corporate America doesn’t speak for the majority of the party which voted in favor of the ammendment. The W.H. stated earlier this week that they aupported the bill. The president is likley more focused on issues like healthcare the economy and the war in Afghanistan to worry about the bill, but that’s no reason for Fox not to cover it. As a woman I’m proud that Franken was able to succeed his bill with as many votes, but I’m discouraged by the rights response as well as one coward from the left. It’s funny how whenever the left tries to bring up an issue about corruption or crime, like halliburton, the rights response is that “we’ve got more important problems,” yet whenever Fox runs an imaginary segment about ACORN that’s the most important threat facing our country. I think people could care more about the U.S. protecting it’s contractors and soldiers from sexual-assaults, health reform, war, or the economy, rather than what two people did in Baltimore to two kids with too much time on there hands.
My wife got an e-mail from someone that wanted us to boycott Fox news. My wife blasted him and informed him that I record Glenn Beck. There are those out their trying to shut Beck down. Maybe NBC needs to put Beck in for Leno who is tanking. Anyone knows the companies that pulled their advertisements on Beck because of pressure from a left wing radical group. I know of Geico Insurance but I don’t use them.
I just can’t figure out why Chris Matthews is still on. His ratings have always been in the tank.
Sharon, as usual, you’re always crying when the other side doesn’t do it “your” way. I don’t recall seeing or hearing anything about your MAJOR IMPORTANT stories on CNN or your idols over at MSNBC? Now maybe I could be wrong since I rarely look at either of them. If you’re going to try to prove a point, then you should offer proof that they have reported in on air.
Makes your argument more viable when you can say, CNN and MSNBC are reporting this story (and provide the prrof), why isn’t Fox? Instead of the way your presenting it here all the time lately. In addition, if your going to whine about Repub’s not voting on something presented by the Dem’s (at one time or another), why can’t you ask the question why did Dem’s not vote for something the Repub’s wanted as well. There are many examples available.
I suppose you’ll have all kinds of answers for everything; even an answer to why Fox (finally!) fired that fool Lemont Hill. I hear MSNBC needs some help, maybe he’ll end up there. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did! Maybe they can do their own version of “Hannity and Colmes” and pair him up with Olbermann; they can call the new show “Over the Hill”.
MSNBC has covered the story of the womans rape for the past few years on and off, including an interview she did describing what happend. Fox as far as I can tell, has done nothing. Rachel Maddow did a story on it this past week. As far as the bills go, when democrats haven’t voted on a bill that the repubs have tried passing then they usually state there reason for doing so, as you normally would in congress no matter which side of the aisle you’re on. Only one senator out of the thirty (including John McCain who, to me, should be ashamed of himself for having and served in the military and fathering of two daughters and still found it in himself to vote against the amendment) who voted against it only one gave a reason. You also have to look at the context of the bills. I really don’t understand why senators for either party wouldn’t want to protect our servicemen and women from rape and then not allow them to sue for the actions against them.
I watched a segment from Beck’s program in which he described a horrible incident where a student was beaten to death in a fight. He then linked this to the rise of atheism within the country and then continued to say that some sort of void within atheists was being filled with government. He then showed an example of someone making a pro-Obama statement and children singing songs largely about America, but tacitly endorsing Obama. Through all of this, I didn’t see a single logical connection with any of his points. The individuals involved in the beating incident are of unnamed religious or political affiliation (tenuous proof that is absent), he rhapsodized about voids being within non-believers, and then used a few small examples of people being fans of Obama without mentioning any of their religious values either.
As a fan of courteous discourse, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt in this instance if his audience can explain the tirade to me and how Beck’s opinion can be logically interpreted as an actual argument for anything. Obviously a lot of people enjoy hearing him make these commentaries, and it can’t purely be for the entertainment factor.
Here’s a link to the video for those who may have missed it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XyFUJg7krM
He also has a fascination with architecture in New York City.
Thanks for the video JG
I just can’t believe they haven’t shoved Hannity out of the way and given that primetime slot to Glenn yet.
No reason Ray Maddow would want to paint men in a bad light is there?
http://www.voyagertrans.com/forum1/index.php
Anyways once again Sharon is making it sound like the Repubs voted “for rape”. But maybe she should have looked into things alittle more closely (LIKE ALWAYS!)
There IS a civil suit that is ongoing. KBR tried to make it arbitration as required by the employment contract, but on September 15, 2009 the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Jamie Leigh Jones’ federal lawsuit against KBR and several affiliates can be tried in open court
There is NOT a criminal suit ongoing because of CPA Order 17, which limits the power of the Iraqi government to pursue legal action against foreign contractors working in Iraq
Al Franken’s amendment to the appropriations bill was to deny funds for any company that has an arbitration clause in the contract. Arbitration clauses are standard in employment contracts. And as seen above, they don’t apply in all situations (such as criminal behavior, rape, etc.). In fact, here is the amendment in it’s entirety:
“Sec. 8104. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any existing or new Federal contract if the contractor or a subcontractor at any tier requires that an employee or independent contractor, as a condition of employment, sign a contract that mandates that the employee or independent contractor performing work under the contract or subcontract resolve through arbitration any claim under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or any tort related to or arising out of sexual assault or harassment, including assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, or negligent hiring, supervision, or retention.”
Now, if one was to read what the Department of Defense wrote, and for which those 30 republicans agreed on:
“The Department of Defense, the prime contractor, and higher tier subcontractors may not be in a position to know about such things. Enforcement would be problematic, especially in cases where privity of contract does not exist between parties within the supply chain that supports a contract. It may be more effective to seek a statutory prohibition of all such arrangements in any business transaction entered into within the jurisdiction of the United States, if these arrangements are deemed to pose an unacceptable method of recourse.”
Oh, that DoD message was delivered from President Obama’s administration to the Senate on voting.
So, while the stories and propoganda make it seem like the 30 repubes are voting FOR rape, once you look into it a bit more you realize that isn’t the case at all.
Also I’d like to add, READ WHAT YOU ARE SIGNING!!!
JG, the point Glenn is very clearly and obviously making is that people have no decentcy anymore. Thats a reoccuring theme of his. You don’t actually watch or you’d know that.
You can’t argue with his point that if more people were religious then then there would be less violent people. And don’t you lefty loons start going on about religious/chrisitian extremeists or whatever. Most religious people are non violent, and don’t condone violence.
Look at the most religous countries in the world Charlie. They’re some of the most violent. Glenn was trying to do nothing more than his usual stick. Actually, isn’t Barack Obama a christian? Granted it really shouldn’t matter what his religion is.
About the Franken amendment, her rape kit went missing for several years which diminishes almost any criminal action even without the laws in Iraq. If this ammendment was passed then the number of rapes and sexual assaults would likley decrease in the military. The Dod’s statement was not released until days after the amendment passed, until which no republican senator who voted against it stated why they voted the way they did. The White house has also backed off away from the Dod’s statement.
What was the reason to refer to Rachel as Ray? I really can’t think of one reason other than some level of homophobia and disrespect for another person based on there lifestyle and appearance.
Charlie, I believe I can argue with any point that has no substantial evidence to support it.
If religious extremists are off-limits for demonizing religion, than extremists on the other side should all have the same type of immunity. If 15% of Americans are atheists, you would have to explain why the vast majority of them aren’t condoning violence if that is supposedly the cause of such behaviour. I was also referencing the fact that in Beck’s broadcast he made no note of the religious orientation of any of his cases, so his leap was baseless.
I’ll admit to not being a regular viewer, but I was under the impression that a full segment would have logical supporting evidence to back up whatever claim it’s trying to make. If Beck is repeating the same arguments continuously, I’d appreciate a link to one of his segments that makes a greater effort to support his claims.
Also, on the subject of ratings, this makes me think if his broadcast style has these thematic links, it’s almost as though it’s a serialization, isn’t it? I’ve never trusted commentary on current events that sticks to a cohesive narrative, because reality doesn’t usually follow such nice consistent structures, though it would be nice if it did. That might actually point to some of his success.
Why does MSNBC still have this Matthews guy on the air? There must be someone who can fill that hour with some honest somewhat intelligent commentary and reporting. I believe NBC would have dropped most of their MS line ,but for the fact that that they will be receiving billions of our taxpayers money. Maybe they should report on that,guaranteed to raise the ratings!
Sharon,
Please, please let me know when Keith and Rachel are going to have either a Republican or an Independent on their shows – I would love to see that “fair and balanced” report!!!! Oh, I won’t hold my breath for it, though.
People actually watch rachel Maddow???? And Wiffleball??? I thought both shows were cancelled???
We started watching Glenn Beck about a week ago after we heard the White House staff refer to him so many times in the last few months that we felt we may be missing something. As it turned out, we were. He seems like a regular guy who asks very good questions. Both my husband and I now look forward to 5pm to sit down and watch Mr. beck. We used to put the local news on at that time, but this is so much more informative.
the Dems, not Repubs are stripping the Franken admendment, let me repeat,
the Democrats are stripping your precious Franken admendment, NOT the Republicans
and yes Glenn Beck is the best show on TV
One democrat. Not the entire party just one. The right is probably excited by this news.
to “StevenR” –
Steven you sounds too old yourself – you sounds confused. Don’t try to pain Glenn’s massive viewers as “old people”, or “they have nothing to do”.People from every age group watch Glenn Beck because he digs deeper, he has accurate facts, and he is exactly right! He gets on many people’s nerve,you maybe included. However, my mom, my son, myself, everyone in our family, everybody at work, their family……people all watch and talk about the new facts Glenn dug out, people just love his show.
Glenn Beck raise to be the best on Fox, often his show is better than Bill O’s Factor.
Fox should move Glenn’s show to prime time to better serve west coast viewers, or repeat more. Now it’s on at 2pm or 11pm PDT, people live on west coast either at work (2pm) or went to sleep (11pm).
Sharon,
Don’t listen to those who disagree with you. Just keep watching Glenn!
I wonder if Glenn really wants to move to a later slot. I mean, he does a show in the morning (is it 9-12? I am never in my car at that time so I am not 100% sure) and then his show at 5:00. He probably wants to go home to be with his family!
Sharon, I strongly suggest you click on the link Coda provided. Perhaps it will open your eyes.
Glenn has it sweet…..do the radio show from 9 til noon. is he live everyday or recorded on TV? If he is recorded then he probably has an 8 hour workday like most of us.
Figure 3 hours of radio then planning meetings afterward say an hour or 2 then off to makeup and do the Tv show say 2 or 3 hours then follow up meetings there home by 5 or 6.
Why would he want primetime? Especially with his ratings at 5….
To all of those wondering why Beck doesn’t get a later time slot, the answer is simple. He doesn’t want one. From his own statements, he is up at 05:00 hrs, he has a show meeting with his TV staff at 06:30, then a show meeting with his radio producer and staff at 07:30. Then on air at 09:00 – 12:00. From there he has lunch and another production meeting with his TV staff at 13:00. He then has to write script and format, plus do a dry run of his show between 14:00 – 16:30. Rest for a bit and then on air from 17:00 – 18:00. He sometimes has an after show meeting until 19:00 to cover the next days topics and research angles. Finally he gets home between 19:00 – 20:00. He has a few hours of family time and then he is in bed by 22:00, and sometimes 23:00. He gets 5 or 6 hours of sleep, and then right back to work. He had a later time slot at HLN, but his shows were all pre-taped. He has stated he prefers the live format on Fox, he says he feels more relaxed and energized by the fact it is a live feed compared to the taped format he had before. He has also stated that doing a live show seems to bring out the character in him to be even more energized on his show. If you watched Glenn before on HLN, you could see doing retakes and getting everything just “perfect” before broadcast, takes away from his style. Live on air, seems to suit him magnificently. Also, he said that they sometimes would try to push him a little in the editing room at HLN to bring his show and news stories more “in line” with HLN political feelings.
Bill, Robert, you guys should turn comments off for these Glenn Beck/news channel posts. Way too many fundie fascists spouting shit for my taste. And [rational] dissent just fires them up all the more.
Are you for real, Jack? Unless you’re the boss, why should your taste dictate how they run the site?
I’m not dictating anything, I’m just of the opinion that the political bullshit isn’t very relevant to the site and inevitably amounts to flaming and not ratings discussion. If it were my site I probably wouldn’t suffer it, that’s all, especially given the quantity of faith-in-humanity-destroying right wingers.
They already have a policy of removing posts not remotely related to ratings, although, and understandably so, they don’t enforce it around the clock.
You seem to be quite a flame thrower yourself, but I’m not taking the bait.
Yeah, I only just noticed the warning at the top, then hoped I hadn’t overstepped and realised I most likely had. I guess it renders my first comment a little moot, but still if it were me I’d probably lock comments to save myself from tedious moderation.
Jack, others, I delete inappropriate comments and block repeat offenders on a random and capricious basis as promised. As noted above, if you don’t like the comments, just stop reading below the ratings.
Jack, you should look in the mirror when you talk about “fundie fascists”. I guess ignorance truly is bliss.
BECK is certainly King of Cable News at 5pm, and could even start vying for BOR’s throne over all ….
GO BECK!
GO BLACKBOARD!
GO AMERICA!
Write those Lawmakers!
Make those Calls!
Pressure those Weasels!
YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
*__*
JC, fascism is extremely right wing and authoritarian, by definition. I’m far from either of those, I assure you.
I did a “blind test” the other night that was interesting. During a commercial break of Fox, I flipped the channel to MSNBC while my husband was out of the room. When he returned to the easy chair to continue watching, it took him about 3-4 minutes to finally comment. He said (thinking it was still Fox) – “is it ME or do you understand what the heck these people are talking about? They are talking in circles!” Seriously, it was hilarious! He didn’t realize I changed the channel and was really trying to figure it out. BTW, He told me not to ever turn on MSNBC again. haha
You wonder why other station’s ratings are in the tank? Fox is smart for giving both sides of the argument. Even if the WH doesn’t consider them “news”, the rest of us do.