After yesterday’s ratings post, which revealed that “Community” is the sixth least watched TV show on the Big Four networks, that “Harry’s Law” is more popular than “Parks and Recreation,” and that “NCIS” is America’s most watched TV show, the collective American intelligence needed a win.
Enter Jon Stewart:
Fox News’ prime time lineup now averages fewer viewers than Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. According to TVNewser, Fox News averaged 1.868 million total viewers in prime time compared to 2.3 million for The Daily Show … The reason why Fox News feels so threatened by Jon Stewart is because his program is more popular than anything not named Bill O’Reilly on the network. Not only is Stewart popular, but he is popular with the coveted young demographics that Fox News struggles with. The average Fox News viewer is 65 years old.
The ratings win is not only big in terms of moral victories for common sense, but the demographics also suggest that there are more younger, brighter television viewers than deluded senior citizens demanding that hobos “put some skin in the game.” Then again, to put it in a broader perspective Fox News was the 4th ranked cable network of 2011 (while “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity” were number one and two in cable news, respectively), compared to MSNBC, which was 28th (with CNN trailing behind at 29th), which suggests that there are a lot more deluded senior citizens watching Fox News than there are wackjob Pinko-liberal fascists watching MSNBC.
Either way, it’s a victory for fake news and dick jokes.
(Source: TVNewser)
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And they’re off…
deluded senior citizens watching Fox News
wackjob Pinko-liberal fascists watching MSNBC
WG, fair and balanced
My old man has a doctorate in mathematics and watches NCIS. Americans aren’t dumb, we just have bad taste.
I think you’re part right. The American populous is plenty dumb (try making stimulus for market research some time), but plenty of the smart ones still have crap taste.
Side note: what is it with old people and military crime dramas? My old man has a PhD and two masters and his two favorite shows of all time are JAG and NCIS. And he’s not a veteran.
I dislike the argument that your choice in programming has something to do with your intelligence level. It always seems like the easy, go to answer.
Being the level-headed moderate that I am, I watch Conan at that timeslot. America.
To be fair, NCIS does have the highest concentration of hot Israeli chicks on my TV this side of a Daphne Rosen compilation DVD.
Who is played by a a Chilean-American actress because the kind of people who watch CBS want their hot Israeli chicks to not be too Jewish.
Looks like the conservative ratings argument can be put to bed along with:
Global warming? But it’s snowing outside.
God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.
Show me where science says you can’t bang your sister.
Jesus fucking Christ guys, what did I JUST say (in the Sesame Street post)? Anyway, thanks for proving my point.
Seriously though, a comedy show beat news shows? In 2011 America? I’m shocked, SHOCKED I say!
Suck my jeans.
The thing about this is, The Daily Show is a 30-minute program built for self-important people with short-attention spans and too much education. Fox News is a 24-hour network built for a mixture of intelligent and unintelligent people — all of whom have guns. Lots and lots of guns.
The crux of my argument is it’s pretty asinine to compare a 30-minute comedy program to a legitimate news network no matter what your politics are. It’s like saying that Community gets better ratings than The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
legitimate news network!?
I’ve never met an intelligent conservative who didn’t hate the crap out of Fox News. They generally prefer the Wall Street Journal, actually.
have you not seen the many surveys, which indicate fox news viewers are less informed about world events than people who watch no news at all. NO NEWS AT ALL. it’s worse than nothingness (new tag line?)
This is why we need to add starred comments
Dustin, what is your point?
#1 news show O’Reilly at 8pm
#2 news show Hannity at 9pm
Daily Show at 11pm
Prime Time defined as 8pm to 11pm
While this article may be factual correct, the headline is misleading. IMO this article = fail
Thanks for the trolling !
Not trolling. I really like this site and read it almost every day, but let me get this straight. The people on this site that like the daily show (I do too, actually but I dont pretend it is news) and dont like Fox News can post their comments but if I have a different opinion I am trolling? Sounds like the typical “I defend your right to express yourself. If you agree with me” syndrome.
I enjoy the Daily Show but it’s not smart. It’s as dumb and hacky as Rush Limbaugh’s schtick, just from a slightly different angle. Creating outrage and absurdity through lies and ommissions is not something unique just one side’s entertainment media.
Ninja, you might want to actually listen to Rush Limbaugh before making that kind of comparison.
I’ve actually listened to a great deal of Rush and other conservative talk radio clowns while travelling for work over the past several years. I know it’s hard for interested parties to accept but I really don’t think there’s any difference between what Rush Limbaugh and Jon Stewart do.
Certainly there are stylistic differences, as they’re going after very different audiences, but the general tactic is the same. Make something mundane look stupid and crazy by totally misrepresenting it or omitting important details.
Both guys are good for a laugh but the things they say should never, ever be taken even remotely seriously.
Shamefully I’m one of those commie pinko liberals who watches some MSNBC. Mainly Rachel Maddow because for some reason I like her personality. Of course, now that they’ve hired Sharpton they might as well give up the ghost of ever being considered a legitimate news source.
Also, Jon Stewart is hilarious but I like Colbert more. He’s stayed in character for how many years now? That’s some Kaufman esque shit there.