Anderson Cooper - Under White House Attack, Fox News Soars

The White House's recent criticism of Fox News has apparently only served to boost the cable news network's ratings. A new survey indicates that in the period from September 28 to October 11, a period during which White House Communications Director Anita Dunn called Fox News an "arm of the Republican Party," ratings for Fox News jumped 9 percent for all demographic groups and 14 percent for adults 25-54. At the same time, CNN's ratings were collapsing, particularly those for Anderson Cooper's AC360 show. Fox News currently averages 2.2 million viewers in primetime versus 730,000 for MSNBC, 679,000 for CNN, and 530,000 for HLN. In reporting on CNN's nosedive, the New York Times commented today (Tuesday) "In an era when the relationship between the White House and Fox News is making headlines, and when the ideological rivalry between MSNBC on the left and Fox News on the right is commanding the spotlight, CNN has little from a news angle to stir consistent interest from viewers. As a consequence, CNN's position in prime-time programming, the most profitable area of the cable news business, has been undermined by the strength of competing channels that focus largely on opinion-based programs during those hours."

27/10/2009