Tea Party Media Coverage Shows How Far Liberal Networks Have Fallen: Their New Format Sucks

The liberals seem to be very upset that their "monopoly" on grass-roots movements was thrown into the toilet. The Tea Parties went ahead as planned, and all the liberal media could do was criticize the people who went there, call them a bunch of racists, and make sex jokes.

It shows how inept the media has become.

While conservative media outlets dutifully covered liberal protests, like the Sheehan protests at former President Bush's ranch in Texas and the 700,000 out of a million-man march, and other liberal "grass-roots" (rent-a-mob) protests, such as the illegal-immigration protests, the liberal media didn't even cover the Tea Parties from a neutral standpoint.

MSNBC and CNN took the lead in denouncing the Tea Parties as white power racist protests against President Obama. I saw a lot of non-whites at the Michigan Tea Parties. Are they racists too?

MSNBC isn't even reporting the news anymore; the paradigm has shifted so radically there that it makes Fox News look like a pure news program with it's mix of news and personality-based political programs.

This pure aggression coming from MSNBC and the other liberal outlets won't help their ratings; it will appeal only to their own audiences. To prove the point, take a look at the ratings from April 15th: (credit: tvbythenumbers.com)

Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for April 15, 2009

P2+ = viewers over the age of 2

(25-54) = Adults 25-54 viewing

(35-64) = Adults 35-64 viewing

Prime Time = 8-11pm

LIVE+SD: The number that watched a program either while it was broadcast OR watched via DVR on the same day [through 3AM the next day] the program was broadcast. For more information see Numbers 101.

1. Scratch = when a show’s audience fails to meet minimum Nielsen reporting levels. For more information go here.

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,589,000 viewers
CNN – 711,000 viewers
MSNBC –479,000 viewers
CNBC – 249,000 viewers
HLN – 400,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 3,390,000 viewers
CNN—1,070,000 viewers
MSNBC –1,210,000 viewers
CNBC – 167,000 viewers
HLN – 909,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC –444,000 viewers
CNN –207,000 viewers
MSNBC –150,000 viewers
CNBC –59,000 viewers
HLN- 173,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 864,000 viewers
CNN –290,000 viewers
MSNBC –388,000 viewers
CNBC – a scratch w/ 45,000 viewers
HLN – 334,000 viewers

35-64 Total Day
FNC –732,000 viewers
CNN –321,000 viewers
MSNBC –241,000 viewers
CNBC –111,000 viewers
HLN- 217,000 viewers

35-64 Prime Time
FNC –1,406,000 viewers
CNN – 404,000 viewers
MSNBC –603,000 viewers
CNBC –86,000 viewers
HLN –487,000 viewers

Morning programs (6:00AM-9:00AM) P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
FOX & Friends –1,049,000 viewers (335,000) (581,000)
American Morning- 518,000 viewers (202,000) (305,000)
Morning Joe-395,000 viewers (119,000) (200,000)
Squawk Box-210,000 viewers (53,000) (120,000)
Morning Express w/ Meade- 348,000 viewers (162,000) (198,000)

6PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Special Report w/Bret Baier – 2,401,000 viewers (541,000) (1,927,000)
Situation Room—942,000 viewers (280,000) (427,000)
Ed Show —563,000 viewers (118,000) (233,000)
Mad Money—228,000 viewers (75,000) (111,000)
Prime News—341,000 viewers (135,000) (199,000)

7PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Fox Report w/Shepard Smith– 2,185 ,000 viewers (531,000) (943,000)
Lou Dobbs –870,000 viewers (265,000) (426,000)
Hardball w/Chris Matthews—737,000 viewers (182,000) (321,000)
Kudlow Report —238,000 viewers (62,000) (123,000)
Issues– 644,000 viewers (226,000) (329,000)

8PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
O’Reilly Factor —3,980,000 viewers (927,000) (1,623,000)
Campbell Brown—892,000 viewers (209,000) (346,000)
Countdown w/Keith Olbermann —1,499,000 viewers (483,000) (707,000)
CNBC Reports – 203,000 viewers (53,000) (95,000)
Nancy Grace –1,336,000 viewers (454,000) (669,000)

9 PM - P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Hannity– 3,239,000 viewers (866,000) (1,348,000)
Larry King Live—1,292,000 viewers (349,000) (449,000)
Rachel Maddow Show —1,149,000 viewers (363,000) (550,000)
American Greed—198,000 viewers (95,000) (a scratch w/ 48,000)
Lou Dobbs Tonight- 590,000 viewers (327,000) (189,000)

10 PM P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
On the Record w/Greta—2,947,000 viewers (799,000) (1,243,000)
Anderson Cooper—1,026,000 viewers (311,000) (417,000)
Countdown w/Keith Olbermann —981,000 viewers (317,000) (552,000)
On the Money – a scratch w/ 99,000 viewers, (a scratch w/ 33,000) (69,000)
Nancy Grace –848,000 viewers (379,000) (492,000)

11 PM P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
O’Reilly Factor —2,090 ,000 viewers (741,000) (1,063,000)
Anderson Cooper—663,000 viewers (214,000) (286,000)
Rachel Maddow Show –609,000 viewers (231,000) (354,000)
Mad Money—a scratch w/89,000 viewers (a scratch w/ 35,000) (a scratch w/ 50,000)
Showbiz Tonight– 561,000 viewers (290,000) (308,000)

For other days cable news ratings click here.

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Judging by the above numbers, the liberals need to change their tactics. After all, they created the very environment that Fox News now excels in, due to their catering their programs to liberal Democrats and trying to demonize the other side. And all they can do is CRY about Fox News and the success that it enjoys.

But the new format that they seem to have adopted will backfire. We really need the networks to get back to reporting the news AS-IS, without fanfare and without Nancy Grace-ing it to DEATH.