Fox News ratings for healthcare vote bad news for right

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/news/msnbc/index.html?story=/news/feature/2010/03/24/fox_news_msnbc_health_care_ratings

Fox News ratings for healthcare vote bad news for right
Viewership figures for Sunday's House vote suggest a bump in liberal enthusiasm -- and a drop for conservatives
By Patrick Egan




Who was most energized by Sunday’s historic vote in the House of Representatives to approve health care reform? Republicans hope that angry conservatives will be mobilized by the new law to show up at the polls in large numbers in November’s midterm elections. But if television viewing data are any indication, those most engaged by the bill’s passage may actually be its supporters.

This figure displays Nielsen estimates of viewers watching CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, hour-by-hour, on Sunday March 21. (Hat tip for data: tvbythenumbers.com). To provide a sense of scale, viewership is expressed as a percentage of the average number of people watching each of the three cable news networks over the previous weekend (March 13-14). (Typically, more people watch Fox News than CNN and MSNBC combined.)

As shown in the figure, viewership climbed throughout the momentous day across the board: all three networks drew more viewers than usual. But as the House moved toward its vote to approve the Senate’s heath care bill, viewership on CNN and MSNBC skyrocketed while Fox News remained relatively flat. After the vote passed, ratings at the more liberal-skewing nets continued to rise, with CNN registering a whopping 700 percent increase in viewers over the previous weekend and MSNBC 400 percent. Meanwhile, disheartened (or, at least, uninterested) Fox viewers tuned out: in absolute numbers, more people watched Rep. Bart Stupak’s riveting pro-life defense of the bill on CNN than on Fox News.

Of course, we can’t say for sure what (if anything) this means for November. But these data indicate that in the short term, the health care reform bill may be more of a rallying cry for liberals than a call to arms for conservatives.

Patrick Egan is an Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Policy at New York University. He blogs at The Monkey Cage, where this post was originally published.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. Hehehe. Like fans of the crushingly defeated team leaving the stadium.

It pleases me.

[howaboutme]

2. Babylon I love ya

You have true insight. Politics is about building upon success. Obama's crew understands that, and that is why they re-pushed the health care bill. To be honest I viewed the bill as a cop out to the corporate interests, and was willing to let it die. I'm now happy that there are those that have far more insight than myself. The first step is the most difficult. Others will follow that will improve upon the first step.

[dmr]

3. That doesn't include those who watch it on CSPAN, either

I didn't watch the cable shows, I didn't want to be pulled away from what was being said on the floor. I'm sure I'm not alone.

[fugop]

4. Who wants to bet if any of the nets notice this?

I'm so sick of CNN and MSNBC pandering to the Fox viewership, trying to peel off conservatives. I wish a chart like this would encourage them to quit mimicking Fox and instead try to offer up balance. I don't want "liberal" news to counter Fox. I just want a balance. And when I say balance, I don't want two opposing guys talking over each other for five minutes until the anchor says, "We're gonna have to leave it there."

I don't know why CNN and MSNBC don't clue in to the fact that the Fox freaks aren't going to leave their rightwing news. It's kind of like the Dems and the elusive, mythical "bipartisanship." Give. It. Up.

[deacon]

5. The right would have supported health care if it include torture. n/t

[RoadRage]

6. In Fox's Defense..

(not that there really is anything to defend them for- they're idiots).. but most conservatives saw the writing on the wall earlier in the day, and simply turned their TV's off when they realized it was going to happen.

Conversely - Liberals and Moderates who support HCR, turned on the TV to see what was happening, and to actually watch the 216th vote. And Lib's don't watch FOX, do we (only to see if anyone was actually crying).