Don't cry for Fox News just yet - because they are still the ratings juggernaut compared to the other cable news stations. But their May ratings just hit a 12-year low among those ever-desirable 25-54 year olds.
Politico explains:
While Fox dominates with the top 14 shows in overall viewers, the total day average for Fox News in the key advertising demographic of the 25- to 54-year-old category was 177,000 viewers, only the second time Fox has gone below a 200,000 average since 2001.
Another key factor coming from May ratings is just how old Fox News viewers are. Take for example, Bill O'Reilly's show, "The O'Reilly Factor." O'Reilly had his lowest month since 2001 in the key demo, with 308,000 viewers. Yes, O'Reilly is still the No. 1 program in cable news in both total and demo viewers, averaging 2,136,000 total viewers in May. But the majority of those viewers are over the age of 55. In fact, the median age for O'Reilly is now just over 72 years old. The average Fox News viewer overall is 68.8, while the average ages of MSNBC and CNN viewers were 62.5 and 62.8, respectively.
TVNewser had more bad news, even though they gave their post the hilariously misleading title: "May 2014 Ratings: Fox News #1 For 149 Straight Months." They noted that the last time Fox's ratings were this low, in August 2001, the network had not yet become the ratings leader. TVNewser also reported:
“Fox & Friends,” which leads the cable news morning shows in both total viewers and the demo, also had its lowest demo delivery since August 2001.
All the network’s primetime shows are down double-digits year-over-year. “The O’Reilly Factor” is down -28% in total viewers and -30% in the A25-54 demo. “The Kelly File” is down -17% in total viewers and -27% in the demo compared to the 9pmET hour last year and “Hannity” is down -30% and -23%, respectively, compared to the 10pmET hour last year. (Megyn Kelly and Sean Hannity debuted in the respective 9pmET and 10pmET timeslots in October.)
Remember how Megyn Kelly and Elisabeth Hasselbeck were supposed to bring in the younger viewers?
How much do you think is because Benghazi?
For instance, Bundy pal Hannocchio draws a large elderly female audience. The dedicated Granny Groupies watch him every night, and when he is out in public doing his television show, the groupies are right there in the front row.
Look at Hannocchio’s Facebook page to see his elderly followers.
Advertising agencies prefer 25-54 demos to sell their clients’ products. All of these cafeteria Catholics’ audience is over 55.
Billy and Hannocchio are too old to attract younger viewers. If the suits were smart they would let their contracts expire, and send them off into the sunset.
What I’d like to see is the breakdown of viewership by gender. Even though women tend to outnumber men in the overall population after the age of 50, TV viewership doesn’t always reflect the general population. I’ve got a feeling that FoxNoise has a male-majority viewership in all ranges.
;^)
“Remember how Megyn Kelly and Elisabeth Hasselbeck were supposed to bring in the younger viewers?”
Dear Ellen: I think you may have overlooked the following fact: the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of the 25-54 year olds are NOT blonde airheads like Megyn Kelly and Elisabeth Hasselbeck are!
;^)
