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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / The Seniors’ Network

The Seniors’ Network

by @heymistermix.com|  January 30, 20139:11 am| 104 Comments

This post is in: Media

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Fox ratings are down across the board in the key 25-54 demographic:

Fox News was down -6% in total viewers and -22% in the key adults 25-54 demo in total day in January, the lowest demo numbers since July 2008. In primetime, the network was down -17% in total viewers and -40% in the demo, posting its lowest demo numbers since May 2006. It is worth noting that January 2012 was a big one in the Republican primary race and FNC hosted two primary debates, but this month was no slouch either, with the inauguration and a number of big political stories.

MSNBC was up 11% with the 25-54 demographic in January. Fox and Friends remains a high point for Fox, though it’s slipping, too:

In the morning, “Fox & Friends” was up +5% in total viewers, but down -17% in the demo. It has been number one on cable news for 135 straight months, drawing more viewers than MSNBC, CNN and HLN combined.

Morning Ho was #2 on the last ratings report I could find, which means the #1 and #2 morning shows on cable are conservative vehicles. I wonder when MSNBC will cancel that sad shitshow and replace it with something that people might want to watch.

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104Comments

  1. 1.

    Face

    January 30, 2013 at 9:16 am

    It has been number one on cable news for 135 straight months, drawing more viewers than MSNBC, CNN and HLN combined.

    This one’s easy. Old people dont work. Old people in general skew conservative. Conservatives watch nothing but Fox at all times. Ergo, protor hoc ad lib ex post facto.

  2. 2.

    RSA

    January 30, 2013 at 9:22 am

    Fox News was down -6% in total viewers…

    The message aside, it would be nice to see journalism that seemed more than vaguely aware of how numbers work. Down negative six percent… Okay.

  3. 3.

    Linda Featheringill

    January 30, 2013 at 9:22 am

    @Face:

    Old people don’t work. Old people in general skew conservative.

    Ahem.

    Some older folks have stopped working for pay. Many older folks are conservative because change scares them, as they aren’t as flexible as they used to be.

    I, on the other hand, am still toiling for money in spite of be superannuated. And my political stance is definitely to the left of Barack Obama.

    The point is, there is too much variety to put all of us into neat little boxes.

  4. 4.

    reflectionephemeral

    January 30, 2013 at 9:22 am

    “Fox News. You know what that is? Nickelodeon for people with dementia.” —Dennis G.

  5. 5.

    JPL

    January 30, 2013 at 9:22 am

    I blame Obama.

  6. 6.

    reflectionephemeral

    January 30, 2013 at 9:23 am

    “Fox News. You know what that is? Nickelodeon for people with dementia.” —Dennis G. Pretty classic phrase, seems to me.

  7. 7.

    Mark S.

    January 30, 2013 at 9:27 am

    Primetime (Mon-Sun): 1.617 million total viewers/ 267,000 A25-54

    I knew Fox’s demographic was old, but I didn’t realize it was this old.

    And what is “The Five” all the kids (well, probably not kids) are talking about? Is that some show where four right wing lunatics and Juan Williams discuss the day’s issues?

  8. 8.

    Scott

    January 30, 2013 at 9:28 am

    Maybe Morning Joe will go out in a blaze of glory, with Mika choking the living shit out of Joe when he condescends to her one too many fucking times.

  9. 9.

    aimai

    January 30, 2013 at 9:31 am

    @Face:

    Old people would watch the weather channel if it were on–the problem the Dems have is that Fox News pitched itself to them very successfully when they were still working and they have a residual brand loyalty to it. If there were a kitten channel and a weather channel (my non fox news watching in laws watch the weather channel) and a old fogies talk democratic politics channel we would peel off a significant portion of the fox news demographic. Its not just because people are old and have time on their hands that htey watch Fox.

  10. 10.

    Mark S.

    January 30, 2013 at 9:33 am

    Clicking one of the links, this sent a chill down my spine:

    All three hours of “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer”

    Who needs three hours of Wolf Blitzer a day?

  11. 11.

    piratedan

    January 30, 2013 at 9:33 am

    @Mark S.:I think it’s either:

    a) it’s all about the same five black conservatives that all of the resident fascists point to to claim that they aren’t anti-women and anti-people with who have different skin pigmentation.

    or

    b) It’s a reality show where they have those aforementioned same five folks living together but they aren’t allowed into the outside world lest they have to deal with reality and might suddenly get uppity.

  12. 12.

    jibeaux

    January 30, 2013 at 9:34 am

    I bet that 22% down of 22-54 year olds was easy to measure, since they probably lost 22 out of 100 former viewers.

  13. 13.

    Del

    January 30, 2013 at 9:34 am

    @Linda Featheringill: As a demographic the “old people” in question are undeniably than the 25-54 crowd, and drasticly more conservative than the < 25 crowd. Can it really be called pigeonholing when the entire article is about pointing out how FOX is failing to capture anyone but the 55+ demographic?

  14. 14.

    Mark S.

    January 30, 2013 at 9:35 am

    @Scott:

    Tune in to see if tomorrow is the day that happens!

  15. 15.

    jibeaux

    January 30, 2013 at 9:35 am

    @Mark S.: The Situation?

  16. 16.

    YellowJournalism

    January 30, 2013 at 9:36 am

    @Mark S.: The original title was “The Five Most Obnoxious People in the World.”

  17. 17.

    Del

    January 30, 2013 at 9:38 am

    @Linda Featheringill: As a demographic the “old people” in question are undeniably than the 25-54 crowd, and drasticly more conservative than the under 25 crowd. Can it really be called pigeonholing when the entire article is about pointing out how FOX is failing to capture anyone but the 55+ demographic?

  18. 18.

    Del

    January 30, 2013 at 9:39 am

    @Linda Featheringill: As a demographic the “old people” in question are undeniably more conservative than the 25-54 crowd, and drastically more conservative than the under 25 crowd. Can it really be called pigeonholing when the entire article is about pointing out how FOX is failing to capture anyone but the 55+ demographic?

  19. 19.

    quannlace

    January 30, 2013 at 9:39 am

    I wonder when MSNBC will cancel that sad shitshow

    I take it you’re reffering to Squinty Joe. You wonder, I wonder, the whole damn viewing audience wonders.

  20. 20.

    Del

    January 30, 2013 at 9:40 am

    Sorry everyone, apparently the mobile theme hated me and lied when it said my comment hadn’t posted. Any FP want to delete the duplicate comments?

  21. 21.

    biff diggerence

    January 30, 2013 at 9:41 am

    Halperin, Haas, Tel Aviv Senor, Gasbag Rendell, Whore Harold Ford, Meacham, Twerp Geist . . .

    The surefire Breakfast Vomit Team.

  22. 22.

    dan

    January 30, 2013 at 9:42 am

    If Morning Joe is #2, then it is “something that people might want to watch.”

  23. 23.

    CaseyL

    January 30, 2013 at 9:48 am

    @dan:

    If Morning Joe is #2, then it is “something that people might want to watch.”

    If you want #2 to move, you need more bran.

  24. 24.

    BobbyC

    January 30, 2013 at 9:48 am

    As far as conservative shows are concerned I find Morning Joe the least offensive. However, lately it has been a steady stream of “fix the debt” guests on his show. Richard Haas, Steve Ratner, Ed Rendell and of course, the god of austerity Erskin Bowles. It’s all Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security have to be dealt with now,now,now! What they are really doing is making sure that any fixes to these programs will come from the recipiants of these programs not from business or the rich.

  25. 25.

    Trakker

    January 30, 2013 at 9:57 am

    Another reason Fox does well – it’s on EVERY cable system in rural America. My tiny cable company in WV has Fox and CNN and refuse to carry MSNBC.

  26. 26.

    Or something like that.Suffern Ace

    January 30, 2013 at 10:05 am

    We had these stories of fox’s declining viewership in 2008. Yay! They’ll watch something else until the next election. I’m wondering, while younger viewers make up a larger share of msnbc’s line up, does fox actually pull in a larger share of them just by being larger? Certainly the 12,000 nightly viewers of currentv must have been taking a real bite out of the other shows.

  27. 27.

    shortstop

    January 30, 2013 at 10:06 am

    @dan: Exactly. The problem seems to be that too many people are watching that sad shitshow.

  28. 28.

    peach flavored shampoo

    January 30, 2013 at 10:06 am

    OT: So the Barney Frank Project failed to materialize. Huh.

  29. 29.

    Linda Featheringill

    January 30, 2013 at 10:10 am

    @Del: #13

    I was tut-tutting because Face was lumping all older folks together, as “Old people can be expected to . . .”

    This is similar to taking the fact that in general, women don’t have the upper body strength that men have and saying that “Women are weak and therefore can be expected to . . .”?

  30. 30.

    Or something like that.Suffern Ace

    January 30, 2013 at 10:10 am

    @peach flavored shampoo: I hope Barney learns to enjoy retirement. Now waiting to here cries that Patrick sold us out.

  31. 31.

    J R in W Va

    January 30, 2013 at 10:11 am

    I won’t patronize businesses that display or have a business relationship with Fox. If I see that Fox is on a TV somewhere, I ask them to turn it to MSNBC or CNN, and if they won’t, I tell them I’ll not spend a penny with them in the future, and leave.

    I noticed that a tech site I used to visit for reviews and such had a bunch of links to Fox News. Then I saw at the bottom of their pages they had a link to Fox among those labeled as some kind of partners.

    Then I wrote their contact folks, and told them I wouldn’t be visiting them any more due to their partnership with Fox, and they wrote back claiming that their partners weren’t really partners. Double-talk.

    I won’t be back to that site, there are a ton of gadget review sites, which is what I told them.

    I encourage everyone to do the same. If business owners learn that there is a down side to showing Fox, they might not do it any more. For sure, the Fox demographic spends less and tips less than liberal Democrats!

  32. 32.

    Linda Featheringill

    January 30, 2013 at 10:17 am

    Del:

    The numbers on the comments changed or I’m losing it faster than I thought. Hopefully, you knew what I meant. :-)

  33. 33.

    handsmile

    January 30, 2013 at 10:20 am

    Looking at the cable news ratings page mistermix linked to above, it’s grimly depressing to realize that the entire 6:00am-9:00am block is not merely dominated by conservative programming, it’s nothing but a right-wing Jamboree. (in truth, I’ve never seen “Headline News” but as it’s a CNN property I have little doubt as to its viewpoint.)

    I don’t think enough attention is paid to just how much CNN caters to right-wing politicos and media hacks, and its utter disregard for truly liberal or progressive perspectives. Watching CNN each morning (I switch between several channels), I can depend on the discussion of any topic to begin with and prominently feature right-wing talking points and/or spokespersons. Centrist Democrats do appear but usually as respondents and are treated with much less deference. This ideological imbalance is further demonstrated by each morning’s “panels of pundits” for which Roland Martin, columnist for the Creators Syndicate or Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent of the New Yorker, is represented as the “liberal” voice.

    Joe Scarborough’s daily frat party is worthy of all the mockery it regularly gets on this blog, but I often find CNN more objectionable for its alleged journalistic objectivity.

    I should say as well that, thanks to living in the NYC media market, I can fortify (and inform) myself by watching al-Jazeera News and BBC America before being subjected to the Village cable “news.”

  34. 34.

    ThresherK

    January 30, 2013 at 10:21 am

    We should continue pimping the idea that Fox’s demographic is a millstone around Fox’s neck.

    At places like CJR and Romanesko and such, it’s been a recognized problem that the consumers of print newspapers (cool retronym) are the same as Fox viewers: Skewing older, less educated, more set in ways, less wealthy, less diverse (in many manners) less looking for more ways to spend their money, compared to the median of every new media technology.

  35. 35.

    Joel

    January 30, 2013 at 10:22 am

    Um, most folk – old or not – watch Today or Good Morning America in the morning slot.

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    January 30, 2013 at 10:22 am

    @Scott:

    Mika choking the living shit out of Joe when he condescends to her one too many fucking times.

    Can he collapse and hit his head on a desk, instead?

  37. 37.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 30, 2013 at 10:23 am

    @Linda Featheringill:
    ‘Old people don’t work’ was phrased in a very broad way, but I really didn’t get the impression he he was implying all +55s are the same, only that there are very strong trends in that group that easily explain these numbers. In the same sense not all white Southern males (a group I’m a part of) are racist, but you can’t ignore that my demographic broke about 80-20 for Romney.

  38. 38.

    flukebucket

    January 30, 2013 at 10:27 am

    Fox News was down 6% in total viewers…

    Probably due to the death rate. Nobody lives forever you know.

  39. 39.

    Roger Moore

    January 30, 2013 at 10:27 am

    @Mark S.:

    Who needs three hours of Wolf Blitzer a day?

    Wolf Blitzer, of course. Everybody else would probably be fine restricting themselves to no more than three hours of Wolf Blitzer in a lifetime.

  40. 40.

    aimai

    January 30, 2013 at 10:32 am

    @flukebucket:

    If they were watching Fox news they probably went happy, knowing they wouldn’t ever have to see that shit again.

  41. 41.

    Closeted epistemic (formerly Lojasmo)

    January 30, 2013 at 10:34 am

    @Or something like that.Suffern Ace:

    @peach flavored shampoo: I hope Barney learns to enjoy retirement. Now waiting to here cries that Patrick sold us out.

    Obama failed to use the bully pulpit.

  42. 42.

    JPL

    January 30, 2013 at 10:35 am

    Cspan is streaming the gun violence hearing. Grassley said some unusual things. I know he always says unusual things.

    @Joel: CBS morning show is pretty good. Nora O’Donnell is always prepared.

  43. 43.

    Linda Featheringill

    January 30, 2013 at 10:36 am

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I’m a product of the South. And I’ll say that enlightened southern males are precious gems, if a little scarce. Bless them all, and you too.

  44. 44.

    Enhanced Voting techniques

    January 30, 2013 at 10:36 am

    I thought Morning Joe was untouchable because he’s the buddy of the CEO of MSNBC

  45. 45.

    shortstop

    January 30, 2013 at 10:36 am

    @Roger Moore: You may be overly generous there, but we take your point.

  46. 46.

    Hawes

    January 30, 2013 at 10:37 am

    Bummer: Barney Frank won’t be the interim Senator. A Mo Cowan got the gig.

    I was really looking forward to Barney Frank debating James Inhofe.

  47. 47.

    shortstop

    January 30, 2013 at 10:38 am

    @Linda Featheringill: So you’re okay with affirming the demographic facts for groups you don’t belong to, but because you’re a senior, you need to take hearty offense every single time someone here points out that old people skew conservative?

  48. 48.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    January 30, 2013 at 10:45 am

    But I love Morning Joke!

  49. 49.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    January 30, 2013 at 10:45 am

    But I love Morning Joke!

  50. 50.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    January 30, 2013 at 10:45 am

    But I love Morning Joke!

  51. 51.

    Liberty60

    January 30, 2013 at 10:45 am

    The only thing better than waking up to hear Fox News is slipping, is to read that Obama’s favorability rating is at a 3 year high.

  52. 52.

    Woodrowfan

    January 30, 2013 at 10:47 am

    BBC America and al-Jazeera News are my favs for news, but I’m lucky I live in northern VA/DC where the cable company carries them.

  53. 53.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 30, 2013 at 10:48 am

    @Linda Featheringill:
    Disclaimer: I have been the target of far more malice, harassment, and violence by white Southern males than any other ethnic group – despite the fact that the only way I could be whiter is if I were Ronald McDonald. My opinion of my demographic is not high.

  54. 54.

    artem1s

    January 30, 2013 at 10:49 am

    slightly OT

    Rachel Maddow is doing some interesting pieces on immigration reform and the shrinking GOP demographic. Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell has decided to fight TeaParty primary challenges by casting them in his personal passion play as the new ACORN.

    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/30/181437/sen-mitch-mcconnell-says-liberals.html

    So much for the kinder, gentler GOP.

  55. 55.

    David in NY

    January 30, 2013 at 10:50 am

    Never mind.

  56. 56.

    amk

    January 30, 2013 at 10:58 am

    @artem1s: So yurtle is turning paranoid. Good.

  57. 57.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 30, 2013 at 11:02 am

    Even if Faux Noise’s ratings were sky high, would that really matter? I’ve read that only around 3 million people watch Bill O’Really’s show, which is the highest rated show on that network. I assume that even if ratings were high, that’s only among White voters and not among other key voting demographics.

    Paranoid White folks watching Faux Noise — even at high rates — is not enough to translate into Repubs taking the White House, which strikes me as Faux Noise’s only purpose.

  58. 58.

    Schlemizel

    January 30, 2013 at 11:03 am

    Am I late to the party on this?

    Eric, son of a goat fucker, has announced he is leaving CNN.

    May that wingnut welfare must be some sweet cash.

  59. 59.

    GregB

    January 30, 2013 at 11:03 am

    Fox is already switching gears and plans on some new hires to appeal to the younger demographic. They planning to announce some new youth friendly shows with the hire of Wilfred Brimley, Fred Thompson and Phyllis Schlafley.

    Kids love them.

  60. 60.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    January 30, 2013 at 11:06 am

    @peach flavored shampoo: OT: So the Barney Frank Project failed to materialize. Huh.

    Inb4 “slap in the face” (although nobody has reflexes fast enough to say that before it shows up on FDL.)

  61. 61.

    Schlemizel

    January 30, 2013 at 11:16 am

    @Linda Featheringill:

    I think we all tend to speak in generalities. In general oldsters no longer work & enough of them keep FAUX News on all day to skew the ratings.

    Truman was Prez when I was born but I still work & have never voluntarily seen a minute of FAUX save for that supplied by Stewart & Colbert. I also was an anti-war hippy in the 60’s but am more than willing to admit a very large number of people in my demographic voted for those useless sacks of shit from Reagan through Rmoney & are fixated on FAUW News. in general

  62. 62.

    Suffern ACE

    January 30, 2013 at 11:19 am

    @handsmile: CNN in the afternoon isn’t much better. That’s what is on in the pantry at work so I get my fill while I’m waiting for my coffee. I don’t watch much, but I am often amazed at how fricking loud and unprofessional CNN presenters are. Comparatively speaking, I’m sure they aren’t any different than the other channels…but that’s a sorry fact, too.

  63. 63.

    Another Halocene Human

    January 30, 2013 at 11:20 am

    @handsmile: Looking at the cable news ratings page mistermix linked to above, it’s grimly depressing to realize that the entire 6:00am-9:00am block is not merely dominated by conservative programming, it’s nothing but a right-wing Jamboree.

    What really sucks is being stuck in an airport and that conserva-CNN-airport-edition-shit is blaring at top volume.

    Why don’t you try calming the ‘port the fuck down. It’s not a god-damned mall where you try to whip people into a manic state to buy things. You have a bunch of cranky sky-bus passengers you’re trying to soothe to sleep. Take the Munich airport. Very calm. Portland, OR is okay, too. Most US airports seem to take their cue from the Mills malls. Look, you already had airport security and missed connections to rile people the fuck up. If you really want people to waste time in those “retail partners”, make them feel like they don’t have a care in the world and wouldn’t even mind missing their flight. Make them hate the place and they’ll gladly queue up an hour in advance of boarding because they’re desperate to get the f**k out of Cleveland or wherever.

    Cities, listen up: it’s a glorified bus terminal with better security. Of course all the employees at the counter are stressed out. But why would you do anything to make the cattle more restless on the way to slaughter? They just turn into a b*tch to manage. Somebody hire Temple Grandin, stat.

  64. 64.

    Helen Bedd

    January 30, 2013 at 11:20 am

    Primetime Mon-Sat: 1.617 million total viewers, 267,000 25-54

    wow! only 1 out of every 6 viewers is under 54…about a year ago that number was 1 in 4

  65. 65.

    JoyfulA

    January 30, 2013 at 11:21 am

    @Linda Featheringill: I’m in that old, working for $, and to the left of Obama box, also, too, Linda.

  66. 66.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    January 30, 2013 at 11:22 am

    @Mark S.: The Five was their Glen Beck replacement show. To tell you how annoying it is, at the end of last year, each person was supposed to name what they considered the most important news story of 2012. One of them actually said the premier of The Five.

  67. 67.

    Another Halocene Human

    January 30, 2013 at 11:28 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: I’ve had to warn visitors here to look out for old, white males, especially if they’re drunk: they hit on young women, and they don’t like to take ‘no’ for an answer.

    I’ve also told the white girls that they don’t have to worry about elderly black guys so much around here, though near as I can make out the reason for it is really sad–in the 1950s in Florida lynchings were still carried out under color of law. Well, they had a trial, but it doesn’t mean justice was done. (Now, Black girls might want to carry a knife around here, as Madea might say, I ain’t lying, I ain’t lying.)

  68. 68.

    bemused

    January 30, 2013 at 11:29 am

    @Scott:

    Now that would be must see tv!

    @Mark S.:

    I haven’t watched Wolf in years but have always half wondered if he is as boring in real life as he is on tv but I think I know the answer.

  69. 69.

    NonyNony

    January 30, 2013 at 11:31 am

    @artem1s:

    Mitch McConnell has decided to fight TeaParty primary challenges by casting them in his personal passion play as the new ACORN.

    From the article:

    He said a report by Politico, a political journalism news group, “confirmed that (President) Barack Obama’s Democratic allies are attempting to infiltrate conservative organizations across Kentucky to encourage and fund opposition to Senator Mitch McConnell.”

    This. Is. Six. Shades. Of. Awesome.

    I mean, I know that Republicans are in disarray. But to get Mitch McConnell on the defensive to the point where he’s dusting off a list of “known Communist agents in the Tea Party movement” that he’s going to brandish against his Tea Party opposition is, quite frankly, better than any best case scenario for the Republicans in disarray narrative that I’d come up with on my own.

    I’m sure that this will make McConnell’s primary election a lock with Republican voters.

  70. 70.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    January 30, 2013 at 11:31 am

    It’s interesting to me to read ya’lls takes on television. I haven’t watched cable news since Fall of 2008. The pre-election coverage cured me of cable news. The rest of the vast wasteland just strikes as somewhere around “meh.” We have all sorts of cable channels, including some premiums, but my son is the only regular viewer.

    I do love my Netflix and Amazon Prime though.

  71. 71.

    patroclus

    January 30, 2013 at 11:33 am

    @aimai: My Dad, who is 90, watches the Weather Channel and the Golf Channel and virtually nothing else (when he watches TV, which isn’t often). If there was a channel called “Swing Bands from the 40’s,” he’d watch that. He sees Faux News a lot because that’s what his friends like. But he doesn’t.

  72. 72.

    sherparick

    January 30, 2013 at 11:35 am

    @Face: These are the folks like my Uncle and Aunt who live in the Villages, Florida. I won’t ascribe politics to them, because I don’t talk politics with them very much, but lots of folks drawing social security, government pensions, medicare, and the like who enjoy the tribal bond they get on “Fox and Friends” and “Morning Blowhard” every morning. I am afraid there is not much of market niche for progressive TV in those early morning cable shows (Soledad O’Brien is as close we are likely to get and she finished a distant 3rd apparently).

  73. 73.

    SatanicPanic

    January 30, 2013 at 11:36 am

    @Another Halocene Human: I cosign your righteous rant

  74. 74.

    handsmile

    January 30, 2013 at 11:41 am

    @Another Halocene Human:

    Recently there was a brief intra-thread conversation between RossinDetroit, Yutsano, Schlemizel (?), myself, and possibly some one else, commiserating that as much as we enjoy the experience of being airborne, it is the physical and emotional endurance exacted by airports and airline personnel that makes contemporary air travel so miserable.

    Your reference to Temple Grandin was very nicely done, also too.

    ETA: “Mills malls” ?

  75. 75.

    shortstop

    January 30, 2013 at 11:41 am

    @SatanicPanic: I’m also on board (ha! see what I did there?!).

  76. 76.

    phoebes-in-santa fe

    January 30, 2013 at 11:43 am

    I am a life-long progressive Democrat and I watch Morning Joe every morning – living in the MST zone sometimes makes it a little difficult to see everything – and I think it’s the best morning show on. I have no trouble with Joe and his conservative views, because they’re usually balanced by someone else’s views. Sometimes Mika, sometimes a guest.

    Are we so scared that we can’t listen to conservative viewpoints? I really don’t think so. MJ also has the best, most wide-ranging guests and their coverage of societal issues is often first rate. They give their guests enough time to talk. Couple of weeks ago I heard 1/2 hour devoted to a book and that’s nothing you’d get on ABC, CBS, and NBC morning “fluff”.

  77. 77.

    patroclus

    January 30, 2013 at 11:48 am

    I don’t watch it because I’m not home very often, but the best morning show, in my view, is clearly the Stephanie Miller show on Current TV, if you get it. Unlike the other Current shows, which I think are a little too preachy, she’s actually funny and often has interesting guests – like Hal Sparks and Mark Hamill, who are extremely articulate liberal Dems.

  78. 78.

    artem1s

    January 30, 2013 at 11:51 am

    @NonyNony:

    This. Is. Six. Shades. Of. Awesome.

    I felt the same way when I read the article. love it when they start to eat their own.

  79. 79.

    bemused

    January 30, 2013 at 11:52 am

    @patroclus:

    My favorite daytime tv show too. I sure hope Al Jazeera keeps her show.

  80. 80.

    SatanicPanic

    January 30, 2013 at 11:55 am

    @shortstop: Glad to see you check in today

  81. 81.

    Brian R.

    January 30, 2013 at 11:56 am

    Easy fix: “Up with Chris Hayes” needs to run every morning. You’re welcome, MSNBC.

  82. 82.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    January 30, 2013 at 11:57 am

    I don’t think enough attention is paid to just how much CNN caters to right-wing politicos and media hacks

    @handsmile: Thank you. Depending on the time of day you tune in, CNN can be far worse than even Fox for plugging/reinforcing/promulgating the right-wing viewpoint.

    Few realize.

  83. 83.

    danimal

    January 30, 2013 at 11:57 am

    @Mark S.: Three hours of Wolf Blitzer? Shoot….Me….Now!

    ETA: As FTD indicates above, CNN, and Blitzer reinforce false conservative memes much more effectively than Fox. They’re evil, and boring. Otherwise, great TV (NOT!).

  84. 84.

    JoyfulA

    January 30, 2013 at 11:58 am

    @patroclus: Sirius has a Glenn Miller channel. I got my parents (88 and 91) a radio for it and a subscription, and now they have it on for meals and naps. They love it.

    For TV they watch Good Morning America, generic Oprah-ish shows, 60 Minutes; he watches cowboy movies, baseball, and sometimes football; she watches British comedies.

  85. 85.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    January 30, 2013 at 12:07 pm

    He said a report by Politico, a political journalism news group, “confirmed that (President) Barack Obama’s Democratic allies are attempting to infiltrate conservative organizations across Kentucky to encourage and fund opposition to Senator Mitch McConnell.”

    @NonyNony: I’m actually quite surprised that in the last two cycles none of the idiots who got the primarying they so richly deserved went there. Maybe Reagan’s 11th or something, although I don’t think that applies to primary opponents. Maybe they just weren’t very smart.

    McConnell is smart. Good for him for going there. As for me, I find few things more entertaining than the results of a knife fight in a dark room.

  86. 86.

    Bruce S

    January 30, 2013 at 12:08 pm

    @BobbyC:

    The Morning Joe freakout this week in the wake of Paul Krugman making some sensible observations about fiscal priorities and long-term deficit projections was amazing. The elite echo chamber among that show’s usual suspects went damned near haywire because he stepped on their talking points. Joe launched a totally dishonest – albeit hysterical – diatribe against Krugman in Politico. I wish I could attribute that show’s problems to stupidity, but I think there’s a large measure of mendacity on display, with elite insiders doing their best to protect their class.

  87. 87.

    Bruce S

    January 30, 2013 at 12:16 pm

    @phoebes-in-santa fe:

    Morning Joe’s “spectrum” is an A-List of beltway elites – mostly conservative – half-baked “pundits” and faux-Democrats of the Erskine Bowles stripe, 98% of whom reinforce the “conventional wisdom” rather than offer alternative world-views. The concerted freak-out in the wake of an actual liberal – Paul Krugman – challenging their sacred cow talking points on deficits was shameful and revealed just how “stunningly superficial” (to quote Mika’s dad on her co-host) that entire gaggle of recycled mediocrities actually are. And Mika is an embarrassment – chosen deliberately for her lack of depth to make Joe look “deep.”

  88. 88.

    daverave

    January 30, 2013 at 12:18 pm

    Very slightly OT: When the hell are we going to get our long-promised, gov’t mandated, adjustment to the volume of commercials on TV, dammit?!? I’m sick of having to grab the remote to adjust the volume every time some company is trying to browbeat me into buying their product. And get those kids off my lawn while you’re at it!

  89. 89.

    MCA1

    January 30, 2013 at 12:20 pm

    @patroclus: Wait, not that Mark Hamill, right? Or is the Force aligned with contemporary American politics, too?

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 30, 2013 at 12:25 pm

    @Bruce S: What you said. I’m less bothered by the presence/rhetoric of Scarborough (though he an incredibly smug douche) than the self-satisfied deficit-feedback-loop CW that, from what I see of his show (very little), is almost relentlessly spewed by the likes of Bowles, Rendell, and (swing a dead rat on that set and insert name).

  91. 91.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 30, 2013 at 12:29 pm

    @patroclus: Bill Press and then Stephanie Miller, both on Current TV, are top-notch talk shows. Am going to miss them if Al Jazeera kicks them off after it takes over Current.

  92. 92.

    patroclus

    January 30, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    @MCA1: Indeed, Luke Skywalker is a very very liberal Dem. And he talks a mile a minute and is very well informed.

    @JoyfulA: That’s a good idea! He’s normally a pretty conservative (temperament) guy, but when Swing music comes on, he is transformed into a crooning dancing fool. He knows ALL the songs and all the lyrics and all the chord changes – he was probably a very interesting guy in the 40’s, although I didn’t come along until a couple of decases later.

  93. 93.

    Glen In Brooklyn

    January 30, 2013 at 12:42 pm

    Scarbourough is defintely conservative, but at least he usually does not make me want to shower!

  94. 94.

    Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937

    January 30, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    replace it with something that people might want to watch

    like cartoons?

  95. 95.

    phoebes-in-santa fe

    January 30, 2013 at 1:00 pm

    @Bruce S: Well, I STILL like it!

  96. 96.

    Another Halocene Human

    January 30, 2013 at 1:05 pm

    @Schlemizel: Whoa. Damn. Why would he leave? Did they ask him to go? Creative differences?

  97. 97.

    Bruce S

    January 30, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    @phoebes-in-santa fe:

    IMHO the only real genius of the show was to cast a morning talk show like a sitcom – with the bullying, smug blowhard “husband”, the mildly disapproving “wife”, the cranky “uncle”, the eager-to-please “son” and a recurring cast of “neighbors” who offer support. Morning Joe is more entertaining in a weird way than the other shows – it’s carefully constructed “comfort zone” for participants, including the audience. That said, I think it’s a disgrace. The appearance of tolerance of Krugman in his presence, followed by an near-hysterical fussilade of cheap shots, mischaracterizations as soon as he left the set was cowardly and extremely creepy. It proved just what a calculated fraud the entire operation happens to be.

  98. 98.

    Ben Cisco

    January 30, 2013 at 1:21 pm

    @Bruce S: Oh HELL YES THIS!

    That show is on the air for one reason and one reason only – to perpetrate useless wastes of protoplasm willing to get in front of a camera and say, “I’m a Democrat but Obama is so divisive/arrogant/condescending/unwilling to compromise,” etc.

    As for Stockholm Mika, she dropped a dime on herself (inadvertent truth indeed!) with that fucked up pic she took w/Schmoe to promote the show. Any big display of her “blowing up” at Joe, schooling him, etc. – all that can kiss every square inch of my ass – it’s nothing more than catnip for saps.

  99. 99.

    Another Halocene Human

    January 30, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    @handsmile: sawgrass mills, potomac mills — it’s a whole chain of semi-faux outlet malls (there are stores selling remainders and seconds at a discount, or there were, but it’s more outlet as a concept, if you know what I mean). The most heinous aspect is that they have their own tv channel on tv’s in the hallways playing adver-tisi-info-tain-listicles from open until close. I think Walmart briefly imitated this and gave up because it sucks.

  100. 100.

    Another Halocene Human

    January 30, 2013 at 1:28 pm

    Wolf Blitzer is the John Madden of news/news analysis.

  101. 101.

    Bruce S

    January 30, 2013 at 1:30 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I used to like Ed Rendell until he turned up as a regular on Morning Joe hawking the “Bowles Simpson” pile of crap. IMHO he’s joined the ranks of Harold Ford and Steve Rattner, who represent the saner faction of corporate elites that have cast their lot with the Democrats rather than the Crazies. The irony is that in the name of “centrism” they are pushing measures to cut Social Security and counter-productive crap like raising the Medicare eligibility age that the overwhelming majority of Americans – rank and file Dems as well as most Republicans – don’t agree with. These elites are as “out of touch” as it gets – although not because they don’t know what they’re doing. A clue to what’s up with them is to figure what rate of taxes for Social Security they pay on their total income compared to the average person. When they talk about “shared sacrifice” it means they want to steal from your children by forcing them to work until they’re 70 before they can collect full Social Security and cut your mother’s COLA increases, rather than equalize tax rates on all income to pay for the existing program.

    Also anyone – which includes all of the Morning Joe assholes – who frames the long-term costs of Medicare and Medicaid as a problem with those programs – which are more cost-effective than private insurance – rather than reflective of systemic health care costs that need to be addressed by systemic reforms aimed at the medical industry itself, including pharmaceutical companies, is promoting a Big Lie intended to make the people who are listening to them Stupid.

  102. 102.

    grandpa john

    January 30, 2013 at 1:42 pm

    @Trakker: Fox is almost always on the main tier or basic package as is usually CNN, most of the others is on higher tiers where one has to pay more to get that level of programming whereas one does not have to pay above the lowest basic level cost.

  103. 103.

    handsmile

    January 30, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    @Another Halocene Human:

    If Walmart “gave up [something] because it sucks,” well that’s metaphysical-level suckitude, to be sure.

    I miss so much, living in the Big City as I do.

  104. 104.

    LanceThruster

    February 5, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    My dad (who I previously thought was more liberal than he apparently is – though it’s his new wife that’s the true Faux Noise fanatic), used to send me all sorts of Reich Wing nonsense till I begged him to stop (I used to rebut his forwards point by point with a “Reply All” email but he never responded to the counterpoints and his other CC’s wrote back complaining to stop confusing them with the facts!).

    He must have forgotten my request as he sent an old tirade about Nancy Pelosi’s military jet use (whether or not the gripe had any merit – it’s just parroted talking points).

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