If Fox News Channel is not the television network of the Republican Party, it's news to American viewers.
More people watched California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Bush twins and mom Laura address GOP conventioneers on Fox News Channel than on any of the broadcast networks Tuesday night.
Despite those Olympics promos, "Father of the Pride" scored only 11 million viewers.
(Dreamworks)
|
| | | | | | | | | | ___ Arts & Living___ News about the television industry, reviews of shows and more can be found on our Television page. See what's on TV today, tomorrow or next week with the TV Grid. | | | | | | |
|
This is the first time in its eight-year history that FNC has beaten ABC, CBS and NBC in covering a news event.
During the 10 to 11 p.m. hour, when the Terminator and the Bush clan spoke, FNC averaged 5.2 million viewers. NBC News averaged 5.14 million, CBS News 4.4 million and ABC News 4.3 million.
In another upset, MSNBC averaged 1.61 million viewers to CNN's 1.55 million during the Schwarzenegger-Bush blitz, with coverage anchored by Chris Matthews edging out CNN's coverage with Wolf Blitzer and Judy Woodruff. (For the full prime-time Tuesday, MSNBC also edged out CNN with 1.3 million and 1.2 million viewers, respectively. But FNC did more than those two combined, averaging 4.1 million people.)
ABC's and CBS's numbers were on par with their first night's coverage of the Democrats' clambake in July (the Big Three networks covered Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights during that convention), while NBC's average was about 1 million viewers ahead of its first night at the Democratic convention. MSNBC's Tuesday prime-time average is only very slightly ahead of its Tuesday Democratic convention score, and CNN fumbled about 1 million viewers that night, convention-to-convention. That might account for some but not all of FNC's increase.
Meanwhile, FNC's numbers at the Republican convention have skyrocketed. During the Democratic convention, its biggest audience was the 3 million who gathered on Tuesday, July 27, at 8 p.m. when Bill O'Reilly went mano a mano with documentarian Michael Moore. In the 10 p.m. hour, the biggest draw FNC was able to secure during the Democrats' Boston party was 2.6 million for Sen. John Kerry's acceptance speech.
Yesterday the other networks mulled the meaning of Tuesday's development from the comfortable shroud of anonymity:
"Fox News Channel doing a big number at the RNC is the least shocking thing that's happened all week," said one broadcast network exec. "The Olympics are to NBC what the RNC is to Fox News."
"It says that Fox News Channel is the official channel of the GOP, and if people didn't know it before they certainly know it now," offered another competitor.
Still another said FNC's success Tuesday night suggests the cable news network is the "in-house organ" of the Republican Party.
"It must be embarrassing to no end that they got beat by a cable news network," FNC rep Paul Schur responded.
"Saying Fox News won because it appeals to Republicans is like saying a 'Sopranos' finale only beat the broadcast networks because it appealed to Italian Americans."
Informed of that response, one of the competitors retorted, "To paraphrase 'The Daily Show': 'To call Fox News Channel appealing to Republicans is to call Marcel Marceau a little quiet.' "
