I almost never watch FoxNews these days, but after listing to a Business Wars podcast, I had to check it out for the election returns. That podcast talked about how all the media used to get their projections from the same set of raw data, although I assume they each processed it in their own way. After the polls missed so badly in 2016 and again missing the red wave in 2018, FoxNews was determined to fix that and set out to improve those projections. I don't recall exactly what they did, but I think they gathering some of their own data. They wanted not only to be accurate, but to be first to call results. And they were apparantly very successful in the next election with whatever they did.
FoxNews was the first to call Arizona for Biden. That irritated Trump and he called them and told them to retract the projection, which they didn't. As a result they suffered in their ratings as conservatives turned to another, much smaller conservative outlet. As a result of that ratings hit the podcast told they gave extra coverage to the Trump claims the election was stolen. They lost one of their top personalities, who quit in protest since they knew there was no basis for the allegations. But the network kept driving that narrative to get those viewers back. And they did come back.
So anyway, long story short (with longer story below), I turned to FoxNews first to see how they called the race. They were indeed ahead of the other channels as I flipped back and forth cross-checking projects. At one time NBC had called more states, but that didn't stay that way for long. So I will let the many of you conservatives know that I mostly watched FoxNews coverage of the election. There were times their commentary was a bit too much, especially when the early returns were indicating something special was happening. They started to gloat a bit, but it was far too early for that, which I think they realized when their group-think went too far. They pulled back a bit.
The other thing I noticed while checking out the other major networks is the over-the-air guys sure broadcast a lot of commercials. It seemed far less on FoxNews or maybe I just didn't notice because they kept a side bar and ticker on during commercials.
FoxNews was the first to call Arizona for Biden. That irritated Trump and he called them and told them to retract the projection, which they didn't. As a result they suffered in their ratings as conservatives turned to another, much smaller conservative outlet. As a result of that ratings hit the podcast told they gave extra coverage to the Trump claims the election was stolen. They lost one of their top personalities, who quit in protest since they knew there was no basis for the allegations. But the network kept driving that narrative to get those viewers back. And they did come back.
So anyway, long story short (with longer story below), I turned to FoxNews first to see how they called the race. They were indeed ahead of the other channels as I flipped back and forth cross-checking projects. At one time NBC had called more states, but that didn't stay that way for long. So I will let the many of you conservatives know that I mostly watched FoxNews coverage of the election. There were times their commentary was a bit too much, especially when the early returns were indicating something special was happening. They started to gloat a bit, but it was far too early for that, which I think they realized when their group-think went too far. They pulled back a bit.
The other thing I noticed while checking out the other major networks is the over-the-air guys sure broadcast a lot of commercials. It seemed far less on FoxNews or maybe I just didn't notice because they kept a side bar and ticker on during commercials.
I recently listened to a Business Wars podcast on CNN vs. FoxNews. These podcasts are usually pretty good, but I was particularly intrigued by this one leading up to the election. It covered the history of CNN starting a 24/7 news channel amidst much skepticism that there is that much news to report and more importantly would have much viewer interest. That was proven wrong especially with the ratings it got from covering the first Gulf War.
Upstart FoxNews had trouble breaking in to the market because the control Time Warner had on the cable market. Time Warner bought CNN from Ted Turner in the early days and also owned many cable stations. We all know FoxNews did finally break through. They were focused on the conservative viewpoint because of the belief the other news outlets were biased toward the liberal viewpoint. I guess that should be a surprise to no one just understanding where these major media players are located. They are in some of the most liberal locations in the country, whether it's New York or LA. Or even Chicago.
The FoxNews formula worked not just because they captured conservative viewers, but also because their shows were interesting to the other side and in the early days would have a liberal voice on some of their regular shows. I never thought they had the strongest liberal personality, but he probably knew his place as the Washington Generals of the channel.
CNN had wanted to cover the news objectively and stay away from leaning one way or another. That seemed to be more true in the early days, although most media had a liberal slant. My theory is they are located in liberal cities as I mentioned before. I suppose when Turner sold to Time Warner, the shift from Atlanta ownership to New York may have started the shift, whether it was intentional or not.
FoxNews was a ratings juggernaut, but they started to fumble the ball with controversies costing them their CEO and best personalities. Calling the 2020 Arizona race early cost them ratings, but their ratings recovered by fueling the stolen election narrative. That is shameful as it riled a lot of people up while knowing it was a bogus claim. It's pretty bad when you have what you hope is reliable media, making decisions based on what drives ratings. Journalism is dead.
Upstart FoxNews had trouble breaking in to the market because the control Time Warner had on the cable market. Time Warner bought CNN from Ted Turner in the early days and also owned many cable stations. We all know FoxNews did finally break through. They were focused on the conservative viewpoint because of the belief the other news outlets were biased toward the liberal viewpoint. I guess that should be a surprise to no one just understanding where these major media players are located. They are in some of the most liberal locations in the country, whether it's New York or LA. Or even Chicago.
The FoxNews formula worked not just because they captured conservative viewers, but also because their shows were interesting to the other side and in the early days would have a liberal voice on some of their regular shows. I never thought they had the strongest liberal personality, but he probably knew his place as the Washington Generals of the channel.
CNN had wanted to cover the news objectively and stay away from leaning one way or another. That seemed to be more true in the early days, although most media had a liberal slant. My theory is they are located in liberal cities as I mentioned before. I suppose when Turner sold to Time Warner, the shift from Atlanta ownership to New York may have started the shift, whether it was intentional or not.
FoxNews was a ratings juggernaut, but they started to fumble the ball with controversies costing them their CEO and best personalities. Calling the 2020 Arizona race early cost them ratings, but their ratings recovered by fueling the stolen election narrative. That is shameful as it riled a lot of people up while knowing it was a bogus claim. It's pretty bad when you have what you hope is reliable media, making decisions based on what drives ratings. Journalism is dead.
