O'Reilly's Plummeting Ratings: I credit Colbert.

[mattclearing]

I don't see how anyone could take O'Reilly seriously after watching an episode of the Colbert Report.

I'm willing to bet that Colbert is at least as responsible for O'Reilly's decline as Olbermann, and that's an understatement.

Not to take away from Olbermann, who is great, and deserves to reap the benefits of O'Reilly's destruction.

[Wickerman]

1. A multi-front assualt

He gambled by appearing with Colbert, Oblermann and Letterman. I've read about the first two, but watched Letterman chew him up like the David of old. It was a beautiful sight and one I wished I had recorded.

[King Coal]

23. He appeared on KO's show? I would like to read about that!

Link per chance?

[LSK]

37. no, he was on the Daily show when Colbert debuted

He called him some "french" guy.

[rpannier]

2. I have friends in the states who used to watch O' Reilly, but not Colbert

They stopped watching because they just tired of his routine.
I think his attempt to try and pretend not to be a puke shill finally grew old and people are no longer watching.
One friend said, "Everytime he has nothing to say he talks about child abuse and laws against pedophiles. It's like he's desperate."
I live in Korea and I don't get shilly o'lielly **Thank God**so I don't know.

[KittyWampus]

36. Hey There, DU'er living in Korea!

:)

[FreedomAngel82]

3. Or maybe people are waking up??

[AlCzervik]

4. maybe, i sure hope so. Maybe the bush choir is tired of being sung too

after 5 years.

[converted_democrat]

20. I credit O'Lielly with much of my awakening..

He quoted numbers and facts one night that were just too far over the top.. I was suspicious so I went and looked them up.. Low and behold I found out that I was being lied to.. I thought he just made a mistake, but the next night I looked up what he said, and he was lying again.. I then started looking up all the info I was getting from r-wing talking heads and web sites, and I found out I was being lied to all the way around..

[ElsewheresDaughter]

5. ROFL warning....pic

[donco6]

49. He WISHES he looked that good! eom

[Left Turn]

6. Yes but....

O'Reilly's ratings are still way, way,way higher than Olbermann's. Let's not be celebrating yet. Fox News is still...by far...the dominant cable news network. Also, one has to wonder how much of Fox's ratings being down a tad have to do with the fact that other networks are copying their style.

[mattclearing]

7. I don't think any hardcore Fox watchers are switching to CNN.

More likely they just can't stomach the spin anymore. It's a new embarassment every week...the ports deal is the ultimate insult to these people.

[jrw14125]

9. cos his viewers watch cable, Olbermann's read books/newspapers!

[AlCzervik]

10. oh very good!

[Lerkfish]

12. what are you celebrating, then?

:shrug:

[SeveneightyWhoa]

34. FOX's dominance!

"Left Turn" has an obvious love for FOX. I wonder why that is?

[Left Turn]

39. All I'm saying is...

It's hard to get excited about a small drop. There's still more people watching Fox than CNN and MSNBC combined.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

53. Nothing to see here, LOL

[Horse with no Name]

13. The difference in ratings could very well be

that the satellites (DirecTV and Dish) both have Fox on the lower tier for the basic price and adding MSNBC costs additional money on the second tier.
I wonder if that was by mistake...nah, don't think so.
But it would definitely affect the ratings and increase the audience substantially when you realize that most rural homes have one or the other of satellite since there isn't any cable service available.
I believe one would call it "stacking the deck".
Now if you really want to see competition, put MSNBC, CNN AND Fox all on the same price tier.
THEN let's see the ratings.

[Touchdown]

14. Not true about Dish. Faux is on the second tier.

...along with MSRNC is in the Top 120 package. Only CNN is on the cheapest package, the Top 60. Free Speech TV is also on the Top 60.

[Horse with no Name]

19. Absolutely true. Please check YOUR facts.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/packages/family/index.asp?viewby=1&packid=32036&sortby=1

For $19.99 you get Fox.

If you want MSNBC (where KO is), you have to move to the top 120
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/packages/family/index.asp?viewby=1&packid=32036&sortby=1
For $39.99 you get to watch Keith.

[Touchdown]

21. Oh, that new one.

I don't have a family, so I didn't bother noticing "The Family Package".
...Which BTW, just came out, so cut me some slack! It's still not on the Top 60 (the previous basic package).

Still, since it's a package that's a month old, it still doesn't support your contention of captive audience pushing rating numbers.

[Horse with no Name]

22. Cut YOU some slack?

You are the one that questioned MY post.
And it isn't new. I checked into Dish 6-8 months ago and the package was not much different and I still had to pay additional money to get MSNBC but not Fox.
So yes, it DOES support my "contention" of captive audience.

[Touchdown]

28. I've had Dish for 6 years.

That family package didn't exist 6-8 months ago. The least expensive one available was Top 60, and Fox News has NEVER been on that one. MSNBC may be on a higher package than Fox's, but neither are on the Top 60, which has been around for at least 3 years, replacing the Top 50.

[Horse with no Name]

32. I don't care if you have had it for 100 years

I checked into 6-8 months ago and that was what I found.

[Touchdown]

33. I just called them. It was introduced Feb 1.

...cause I knew you'd write back. You ARE MISTAKEN!

EDIT: That's 2006, just in case.

[Horse with no Name]

35. LOL

You are not mistaken, you are wrong. The person you got on the phone probably just started working there and has absolutely no clue what was going on 6-8 months ago and I am quite sure they don't care.
I know what I was quoted ...and you will have no further comment from me.
I don't routinely crash my head against walls and I don't argue with them either.:hi:

[Touchdown]

38. Alright. You know everything

I'm just a stupid fuck that had the unmitigated GALL to question your memory, or your rather dubious non-sequitur conclusion regarding the network ratings. How could I have ever been so hubristic? When will you EVER forgive my insolence? I bow before your superiority, Your worshipfulness.

[Jack from Charlotte]

26. I think Repugs aren't watching as much because all the bad news....

I think that's partly responsible for Billy's reduced ratings. Repugs hear the news.... and it's all bad for their boy so they avoid the news shows. Now if the catch Kennedy getting a parking ticket and Fox people crank up..... I think there ratings return.

[gkhouston]

40. could be some merit to this theory

when there's so much bad news, some of them might not want to watch the spin, because then they'll have to admit they're being lied to. Then again, the average age of O'Reilly's audience is 68. Some of his audience may simply be dying.

[Catchawave]

8. Colbert is a parody of O'Reilly

A few DUers don't get "The Report", and it's funny when I see posts slamming him :rofl:

Between, Jon, Keith and Stephen, it's amazing Fox News is still a cable channel. BUT, to wingnuts, it's almost like church to them, so I'm sure they still have their kool aid followers !

[AlCzervik]

15. oh dear god The WØRD Segemnt detsroys me and the "You're dead to me"

list too, oh all of it.

[AtomicKitten]

17. Colbert does a brilliant parody of O'Reilly.

I actually heard O'Reilly quoted as saying he liked the Colbert Report; he clearly doesn't get it!
Which makes the whole thing funnier still.

Also Keith constantly referring to O'Reilly as "The Giant Head" and "Ted Baxter" has had an impact.

Ha, ha, ha. Couldn't happen to a nicer falafel-loving a-hole.

[Catchawave]

24. Has the Washington Press Corps caught on yet ?

Wasn't Colbert invited to host their dinner thingy? That is thinking they were copping a RW Jon Stewart :rofl:

[AtomicKitten]

29. He's speaking at a GOP blogging seminar. n/t

[Catchawave]

31. Did his schedule change?

Loved this blurb from HuffPost....maybe the gig is up?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/01/27/stephen-colbert-to-host-w_n_14578.html

[AtomicKitten]

42. I read it on Raw Story this A.M.

that he was going to be speaking at a GOP blogging seminar. That article is now gone, which gives further credence to the notion Raw Story is the leftie version of Drudge.

[gkhouston]

41. some of them must know

David Gregory was a guest on The Colbert Report a while back and he's no fool. I didn't realize Stephen's show was a parody of O'Reilly's show in particular until people said so here on DU because I've never watched O'Reilly. He's amazingly good and I love "the word" and "know your district".

[etherealtruth]

52. Same here ...

...My only exposure to O'Reilly was his attempt to spar with Al Franken.

Stephen Colbert is amazingly "smart" and funny. It will sound blasphemous around here but I think I like his show even better than Jon Stewart's (I Really like Jon Stewart a lot ...but, Colbert's freshness is a bonus)

[Lisa]

45. remember when he spoofed O'Reilly's hair?

He did it so earnestly, and said such flattering things about O'Reilly, you had to look closely to see the twinkle in his eye.

[Crankie Avalon]

11. Maybe...

...or maybe it's just a domino effect of the disenchantment people increasingly have with Bush/Cheney-style "governance" naturally trickling down to the tuning out of the media blowhards whose sole purpose was/is to carry water for the more and more discredited regime.

[npincus]

16. O'Reilly? did someone say O'Reilly?

[Hamlette]

18. where can I find out what the ratings are?

[mattclearing]

27. Someone posted them here yesterday twice.

You'd need to go down forum a few pages to find them.

[land of the free]

43. every day on ...

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

you can see stats on ratings for the major news shows. Also, they often compare what's going on with O'Lielly and his competitors.

[stewert]

46. Ratings...........

Try my cable news ratings page:

http://www.oreilly-sucks.com/politics/cablenewsratings.htm

I have the factor ratings all the way back to March of 2004. The factor is in a 5 month ratings slide, from a 2.8 in October of 2005 to a 1.9 rating for February of 2006.

I also report the ratings every month, and sometimes weekly on my forums.

http://69.73.163.60/oreillysucks/index.php

I can not believe you guys don't know about these pages, I have been here at DU.com since 2001 and running the oreilly-sucks.com site since 8-26-01.

And BTW, FOX is on in 5 million more homes than MSNBC is.

[tlsmith1963]

25. Hey, Colbert's More Fun!

O'Reilly is depressing because he's the real thing. I hope we can get to the day when there are no more real neocons & we can just have fun parodying them.

Tammy

[opihimoimoi]

30. Humor has its Value...especially the kind sprinkled with TRUTH

The Pubs and OReally are being teased no end and they cannot handle it....

They deserve low ratings...what the hell they ever did to help Americans////really???

[land of the free]

44. do you mean "truthiness"?

I love watching Colbert's show. It is so much funnier than I ever even imagined. It's become must-see TV at my home, and that's rare.

Remember a couple weeks ago when, I think it was Kurtz (maybe it was someone else) was confused and panned Colbert - he didn't get the fact that The Colbert Report is a parody. It was classic.

I dunno if Colbert is directly responsible for O'Leilly's ratings drop. It may also be that many people are finally realizing how tainted his Kool-aid is. Sooner or later, his yelling BS can get old.

[opihimoimoi]

54. I love it...truthiness....

OReallys Numbers drop because the Truth is coming out...he is a shill..always dumping on the Libs/Dems as if we were vermin

Its all part of the Brainwashing...make something good look bad.

Liberalism means to have an open mind, to have reasonable discourse...to look at other IDEAS concerns and notions. There is much good in this. yet all we hear from the Right: is how BAD Liberalism is....and in a twisted way at that.

Peeps are starting to see its all BS coming from Bill.

[Initech]

47. Any truth to the rumor that Comedy Central is starting a 24/7 FNN?

Fake News Network? Anyone heard anything about this?

[sutz12]

48. That would be priceless

Given as how more people trust The Daily Show than most of the 'real' news shows, it would probably be a hit.

:rofl:

[Initech]

50. I always say that fake news is better than real news!

A 24/7 fake news channel would be awesome!

I'd love to see call-in shows with Lewis Black and David Cross. That would be absolutely hilarious.

[dorkulon]

51. The power of parody

This is why satire is so essential. We'll know the dream is over when they start arresting comedians again.