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Weighing MSNBC’s Liberal Bet

Aug 22, 2008  •  Post A Comment

MSNBC’s promotion of Rachel Maddow, an Air America radio host, to a prime-time show, may confirm the cable news network’s appeal to liberal viewers, but the New York Times wonders whether that’s a smart play advertising-wise. The change in the lineup is part of MSNBC’s play for more ratings to sell to advertisers in this political season and while MSNBC host Keith Olbermann’s ratings have doubled since August 2006, that’s not quite half of Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly. The Times notes that most advertisers don’t give a hoot about a show’s political affiliation as long as it delivers audiences.
—Greg Baumann

2 Comments

  1. What’s the big surprise? All the networks’ newscasts are lefty, so why hide it anymore? By the way, NO ONE watches any of the net newscasts (look at the numbers), and even fewer (I know, it’s mathematically impossible) watch MSNBC. It’s the trust, stupid. You don’t have it anymore, and it’s gone for good.

  2. So . . . Fox ISN’T a network? They’re certainly, unabashedly, and proudly waving that conservative, right-wing banner, and have been for over a decade now. When Bush’s so-called architect is an on-air personality and Rush Limbaugh’s former television producer running the entire news department, you’re not going to tell me that a right-wing bias isn’t firmly in place.
    Broadcast numbers are still systematically higher than ratings of cable networks. Just because Hannity, O’Reilly, and Beck said otherwise doesn’t mean it’s true.

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