MSNBC: 37 Million Watched Palin Speech

[VolcanoJen]

Now, before all the concern-trollin' starts, I think this is a stat that should make us pretty happy, and I welcome the comparison between Obama and Phyllis Schlafly on 'roids.

Is there anyone who thinks McCain is going to be able to pull these kinds of numbers with the NFL kick-off tonight? Talk about being over-shadowed. The GOP might be celebrating the numbers today, but in a week they're going to regret that the lingering taste left in the mouths of Americans is going to be that of a Republican Snark-Opera.

[livetohike]

1. That's good news for us. It was curiosity seekers and since

she didn't talk about any issues, it is easy to keep making the connection to Bush.

[demokatgurrl]

2. Today on Mike & Mike, ESPN radio

they made me want to scream, thanking the Repugs for having the convention, so the NFL game could be earlier. So, that means, when the football game is over you may still have time to catch the RNC.

RESIST!!!!!!!

[VolcanoJen]

3. Overtime, my friend.

Overtime. :-)

[timber84]

29. Just setting McCain up for to quote a fellow DU'er EPIC FAIL

When his numbers are so much lower.

[Bobbie Jo]

4. Good!

First impressions are powerful.

[VolcanoJen]

9. Yes, indeed!

:-)

[SuperTrouper]

12. Taliban Sarah hit a homerun for Sheik Omar

[bunnies]

5. Less than watched Obama?

Excellent!

[onenote]

17. boy is that a weak attempt at spin

a million under Obama? Probably still more than watched the olympic ceremonies and a boatload less than watched Biden.

Pretending that wasn't a signficant audience (and there were a couple of DUers who claimed her audience would be tiny) is just silly.

[bunnies]

20. Get off it.

First of all what I said was NOT spin. Its a statement of fact. Period. And secondly, I never said it wasnt a significant audience. Did I? No, I didnt.

My point, though I'm surprised I even need to be making it here, is that even with all the hoopla surrounding her, more people watched Obama. And yeah... I DO think thats a good thing.

Maybe you dont. :shrug:

[onenote]

25. To paraphrase you.

I never said Obama getting a bigger audience than her wasn't a good thing. I did point out that, as a factual matter, the difference between her audience and Obama's was pretty small. There were DUers here that were predicting she'd get a very small audience. That sort of fantasy wishful thinking is what will get us in trouble. The problem with attaching a lot of significance to things like audience size is that they can come back to bite you later.

Its great that Obama got a big audience. BUt anyone thinking that its an indicator of the outcome of the election (and I'm not saying that is what you are doing) is fooling themselves.

Elections aren't won/lost by how many people watch a speech on tv; they're won in the trenches, in get out the vote drives and registriation efforts.

[Teaser]

32. Did you watch?

Odds are, you did.

Did McCain supporters watch ours? Odds are, they didn't.

[napi21]

6. Lets see how long the game runs. The convention coverage is

scheduled to begin at 10PM EST. Football games USUALLY go past their allotted time, so the network will either miss part of McNuts speech, OR they'll piss off a whole lot of football fans by shuttung down coverage of the game before the clock runs out.

[davepc]

21. I'm pretty sure the NFLs contract with NBC wont allow them to drop out of the game before its over

[napi21]

31. I HOPE you're right. BUT, if they do drop it for McNuts, the Pubs will lose a bunch of football

fans for sure!

[SuperTrouper]

7. 37 Million people saw the disgusting sarcastic NeoCon attack on Middle America eviscerating

our Community Organizers. Also remember that the majority of the 37 million were women and let me tell you, most of them were turned off by Sarah The Terrible. Many were Hillary supporters and what a great comparison to Obama's inspirational and substantive speech about what needs to be done to help Middle America and Taliban Sarah's diatribe last night

[napi21]

10. How exactly do they determine the # of viewers? I had the speech on

my TV, but I had it muted and was reading DU. Do I count as one of the 37 million?

[KansasVoter]

8. How many watched Obama?

[onenote]

18. most reports put it at 38 million

Some, which include estimates of PBS numbers, go as high as 40 million. Don't think the Palin numbers include a PBS estimate.

As others have said...not a surprise that it got big numbers. What's surprising is that a few DUers (and it was only a few) predicted that her numbers would be low.

[uponit7771]

11. 37 million people saw how horrible she was. Condescending to community organizers doesn't come off..

...too well IMHO

[maseman]

13. Not a surprise at all

Everyone knows who BO is at this point and even before last Thursday. Most have seen some sort of speech by him over the years.

NO ONE knows who this Palin lady is and of course they wanted to see it. Many of us watched her and I am sure some won't bother with McSame because we have seen it before.

[On the Road]

14. All I Can Say Is

if it's another Heidi game, McCain is toast.

[VolcanoJen]

16. Heidi Bowl!!!!!

No kidding! McCain will lose the NFL Vote if they preempt the game. :-)

[Ganja Ninja]

15. NFL Football and the Rays vs Yankees game too.

People in Boston and New York will likely be trying to cover both of those.

[onenote]

19. football game should be over before McCain hits the stage

or right around that time. McCain actually might get a boost from the lead in audience.

[demokatgurrl]

22. Just switch over to US Open tennis-

they will be going until the wee hours probably.

[GrizzlyMan]

30. This is a mytth

And it doesn't take into account the millions who will be watching a sports bars or at watch parties in homes. I'm deeply immersed in the NFL fan culture and your average Joe is going to care more about how well Clinton Portis and Eli Manning did for their fantasy team than dropping everything they so they can watch a politcial speech. And beyond that, I've yet to meet a bartender who will turn off ESPN to put on a political speech and I've seen more than my fair share of bars.

At best the NFL lead up (possible conflict) is a wash for McCain.

[onenote]

33. I'm not saying everyone who watches the game will stay tuned

But programming that follows a well-watched event typically garners a better audience than a show that follows a lesser watched event. And the Skins/Giants game will have a larger lead-in audience than most other regular THursday night programming that NBC has to offer.

edit to correct network from CBS to NBC

[VolcanoJen]

34. As a bartender myself....

.... I'd be inviting a revolt if I attempted to change the big-screens from ESPN to CNN, at any time other than 9/11/01.

[onenote]

38. Maybe so, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that NBC has a better audience for McCain tonight

relative to the other networks than it had relative to the other networks for the other nights of the convention.

I guess we'll know soon enough

[BeyondGeography]

23. She'll beat Gramps by a mile, which should make the MSM ask whose convention it really was

[nc4bo]

24. HITH do they know how many people tuned in?

Way off topic.

Seriously though, if M$M can't be trusted to count 200+k admirers in Germany, or 10+k in Chicago, Ill., how can we trust that 37mil people watched palin's hate speech?

[depakid]

27. They don't -but they need some sort of metric

in order to figure out how much to charge advertisers for airtime.

Doesn't metter whther it's accurate or not. A ballpark figure will do.

[Hardrada]

26. People wanted to see a Ringwraith in a skirt?

[GrizzlyMan]

28. Not buying it

Right wing media spin is in overdrive.

[onenote]

35. sure. if the facts don't suit you, pretend they don't exist

Always a surefire route to success.

Yes, she got a big audience. It was predicted and predictable. Pretending she didn't is stupid. But at the same time, keep in mind that the fact she got a big audience doesn't mean squat about the outcome of the election.

[VolcanoJen]

36. I'm buyin' it

Think about it: They spent four days hyping a complete unknown who could very well be The American President in February.

If the MSM told America "LIVE COVERAGE of yet-to-happen BRIDGE COLLAPSE at 10:00!" or "The TSUNAMI will happen at 10:00 tonight, tune in!" you can bet damn well that our Idiocracy is going to Tivo that shit. :-)

[1corona4u]

37. Yeah, I don't but it either....

they need to make this a contest, and that number keeps it close..

[GrizzlyMan]

39. Exactly, it's all about narrative

I'm really surprised so many DUers buy into this.