Can it be true that Sponge Bob and Hanna Montana outrate the cable news pundits?
Yep.
As a professional broadcaster, now in the
cable sports business, I'm often amazed (maybe sickened) by all of the "experts" like O'Reilly, King, Dobbs, etc. who keep yelling at us about their own agenda, and how everyone else is wrong. It's not only the things they say, but how they say them, with the fervor of the most passionate evangalist, and how the audience seems to take them to heart. That goes to the folks on BOTH sides of the political fence -- FOX, CNN, MSNBC et al.
I ran across the following on a BB that I read daily. It talks about the most popular cable channels, and the "news" channels aren't really as influential as they would have us believe.
If it's the same guy I met years ago, the author is a former major market news director turned newspaper columnist/ TV critic.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...TS15/801180326
In years past, and I'm pretty sure it still is true, the
highest rated cable network had less viewers than the
lowest rated (on air) broadcast TV show. That's also true of newscasts -- with the lowest rated on air network newscast beating the highest rated cable news program handily. Part of that, admittedly, is because there are some folks out there who still don't have either cable or DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite), but penetration is pretty high and probably wouldn't change the ratings all that much.
If, and how long, that lasts, I don't have a clue. My personal feeling, though, is that I feel better knowing that these guys haven't hoodwinked as many of us as it often seems.
As always, that's
my personal opinion.