Glenn Beck has lost 1/3 of its TV audience since January

[babsbunny]

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201004280008

April 28, 2010 8:31 am ET by Eric Boehlert

Should we blame it on the Massa Moment?

Will that Hindenburg performance soon be seen as the turning point for Glenn Beck: the pivotal moment when the Fox News show began to permanently leak viewers?

Who can forget the March day that will live in cable news infamy, when Beck invited embattled Democratic Congressman Eric Massa onto his show, for an entire hour, to blow the whistle on Democratic Party corruption? Or so Beck thought. Instead, Massa went on and on about tickle fights, and Beck became a laughing stock -- the butt of endless Geraldo-opens-Al-Capone's-vault jokes.

Prior to the Massa Moment, Glenn Beck was averaging 2.6 million viewers each week, and the show was still flying high. And in the short term, the wildly hyped Massa episode produced ratings gold, generating 3.4 million viewers that night, thank you very much. Long-term though, the effects have proven to be disastrous.

[RM33]

1. Ratings down? Really?

How about the other Conservatives? Or just Beck?

[babsbunny]

3. KO had this on his show

[miscsoc]

2. we should blame it on hubris

i used to watch him a lot, since he had good jokes and made some attempt to make his craziness entertaining.

now he seems to have convinced himself he is some sort of political prophet and doesn't bother trying to make it fun to watch. accordingly his audience is shrinking to a core of genuine believers. he may not mind that. these are the people who buy his books, subscribe to his premium content etc. I bet a lot of his previous viewers were just gawkers rather than sympathisers. I've watched recent episodes and they are basically mostly discussions of flaky wingnut talking points - idiots sitting round a desk talking about how the income tax should be abolished or whatever. His popular appeal was always that of a clown or a classic fool/jester.

[KansDem]

4. Guess those tears now will be genuine and not a product of VapoRub.

[Inspired]

5. This calls for a celebration. I'll have a martini please!

[SoCalDem]

6. The political arm of Fox does not care how many ads/viewers they lose

It's the propaganda arm of the RNC, and they don;t "need" to make money on it. The other stuff FOX airs pays the bills

It's a clever little place, Fox.

The washington Times has never made a PENNY.. It's always operated in the red. why is it still in business? Because it took the place of a "real" paper, so it silenced a voice, and replaced it with rightwing-religious propaganda. Republicans were in power long enough to legitimize it, and so it stays...

[UTUSN]

7. Well, heck, *I'll* K&R this #1 !1 n/t

[michreject]

8. There's some conflicting numbers

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/04/27/cable-news-ratings-for-monday-april-26-2010/49877#more-49877

4-26-10

5PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Glenn Beck – 2,456,000 viewers (745,000) (1,223,000)
Situation Room—617,000 viewers (155,000) (235,000)
Hardball w/ C. Matthews – 546,000 viewers (150,000) (238,000)
Fast Money – 208,000 viewers (a scratch w/50,000) (75,000)
Showbiz Tonight —220,000 viewers (64,000) (86,000)

8PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
The O’Reilly Factor – 2,978,000 viewers (731,000) (1,345,000)
Campbell Brown – 452,000 viewers (150,000) (210,000)
Countdown w/ K. Olbermann – 1,085,000 viewers (296,000) (575,000)
The Apprentice- 181,000 viewers (99,000) (96,000)
Nancy Grace – 713,000 viewers (279,000) (362,000)

9 PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Hannity – 1,899,000 viewers (526,000) (912,000)
Larry King Live —704,000 viewers (235,000) (346,000)
Rachel Maddow Show —1,076,000 viewers (295,000) (514,000)
The Apprentice — 207,000 viewers (112,000) (106,000)
Joy Behar – 717,000 viewers (249,000) (332,000)