Fox News Channel has been the top-rated cable news network for a long time, but until this month it was only for double-digit months.
Well it’s now official – FNC is number one in April for the 100th consecutive month.
The streak began in January 2002, when FNC became the most watched cable news channel in prime time and total day in total viewers, surpassing industry leader CNN. It hasn’t looked back.
And while it hasn’t looked back, the look hasn’t changed very much at all. While CNN and MSNBC have undergone major changes, prime time looks just about how it did back in January 2002. Bill O’Reilly was there, Greta Van Susteren came one month later. Sean Hannity was there (although he shared a show for most of the time with Alan Colmes). Shepard Smith has been the lead news anchor since then as well. It goes without saying how incredibly rare to see the sustained success of this fairly untouched group.
In reading this, I'm reminded of Christopher Nolan's film "The Prestige". There is a scene in that film where Micheal Caine's character describes how a great magic trick is done.
He describes how that audience is set up, how they are distracted, and finally how the magician concludes his trickery to make the audience believe what they have seen is real. Fox"News" is a perfect example of this.
I have said this multiple times and it is no less true even today. Higher ratings in no way equal accurate reportage. This is something that is touted by Bill O'Reilly on a virtual daily basis. And make no mistake, Fox's water-carriers abound. I honestly feel sorry for them in most cases, but I also know that magic and trickery can easily seduce.
Fox"News" is successful primarily because of the consumerist nature of most Americans - we thrive off of entertainment, scandal, and things that shock our senses. I must admit that I watch Fox"News" throughout the evening, but not because I see it as a source of information, but to monitor and evaluate it's ability to take a story ( or create one ) and mold it into this twisted visage in order to frighten the average viewer.
From the start of the broadcast day until the final "live" hour of transmission, you can literally see how the conservative point of view is folded into literally every program. Anyone should be able to see this, but this certainly isn't the case.
One can't but marvel at the audacity and unblushing dishonesty of Fox executives and employees. I say this, because it's further proof that greed ( whether for money or power ) is such a motivating force in this country. On any given day, you can literally see how various Fox"News" personalities are attempting to gain just an inch of spotlight by saying and doing things that would make them appear to be the greater "magician" on the network.
As television viewers, we seek the programing that is going to hold our interest. The same can be said of news networks. And while it's true that MSNBC has more liberal opinion programs in primetime, they certainly know how to separate their hard news programs from them. CNN, in my opinion, is a peculiar creature that tries too hard to be all hard news and ends up looking like an abject fool - especially since they hired Erick Erickson.
Fox"News" is always going to draw a crowd because they are the car wreck on the side of the interstate that we have to crane our necks to see as we drive past. We stare in shock and wonder at what we see, but then we move on. Out of the millions that do watch, I often wonder how many of those people are watching for the same reasons that I am. I wonder how long they are watching. Are they watching an entire program? Did they stop just long enough to hear Sean Hannity call Obama a terrorist sympathizer? Or did they leave the television on all night just to have some background noise and ended up falling asleep when the Ambien kicked in?
Fox"News" is a magician - but not a particularly good one - since most of us have figured out how they do their tricks. It's just a shame that people keep going back to see their act. It's like it's so bad that it's become comical.
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