Fox News Ad Targets CNN's Heavily Democratic Audience

The Fox News Channel has taken out an ad in Monday's Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and trade publication Multichannel News highlighting recent findings from a study by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which found that Fox News' audience is more balanced along party lines than either CNN's or MSNBC's.

The ad, exclusively obtained by the Huffington Post, targets CNN specifically, inserting the word "partisan" into CNN's "CNN = Politics" logo to read, "CNN = Partisan Politics" and declaring Fox News "The Only Fair & Balanced News Network." This may prove to be a particularly damaging charge, as CNN has sought to define itself as the independent alternative to partisan programming on its competitors (which, in addition to the fact that MSNBC trails both Fox and CNN in the ratings by wide margins, is presumably, why the ad targets CNN with no mention of MSNBC).

The study found that 51% of CNN's regular viewers are Democrats, compared to 18% Republicans. Fox News' audience leans Republican but is more balanced overall, with 39% of regular viewers declaring themselves Republicans compared to 33% declaring themselves Democrats. MSNBC's regular audience is 45% Democrat and 18% Republican.

See the ad below:

Excerpt from Pew study below (download the entire report here):

The general public has become more Democratic since 2006, and this is reflected in the audiences for leading TV news outlets. The audiences for CNN and MSNBC, which were heavily Democratic two years ago, have become even more so: fully 51% of CNN's regular viewers are Democrats while only 18% are Republicans. MSNBC's audience makeup is similar - 45% of regular viewers of MSNBC are Democrats, 18% are Republicans.

The regular audience for nightly network news also is now about two-to-one Democratic (45% vs. 22% Republican). In 2006, 40% of the regular viewers of nightly network news were Democrats compared with 28% who were Republicans.

The regular audience for the Fox News Channel continues to include more Republicans than Democrats. Currently, 39% of regular Fox News viewers are Republicans while 33% are Democrats; in 2006, the margin was 38% to 31%.

Comments

[libbygirl]

04:23 PM on 08/27/2008

Pot meet kettle.

[MinneapolisBob]

01:52 PM on 08/27/2008

These numbers make no sense, and it goes to show how polls can be manipulated. If Fox News claims its' viewership is so balanced, why is it 87% of them say they will vote republican?

www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/08/07/fox_news/

As citizens of this country, it is our responsibility to properly assess the entire situation, the policies and ideas of the the two candidates and their parties, and use our critical thought process in making an independent decision. We have to stop allowing highly paid partisan pundits, and biases networks to make our decisions for us.
______________________________________________-
VOTE! Save OUR Supreme Court, our liberties, rights and freedoms depend on us.

[khaleef49]

01:43 PM on 08/27/2008

CNN gets on my nerves but FOX is the worst. I hope their rating continues to fall, then they will report the news instead of giving McCain free commercial air time. We need to file a complaint against FOX.

[Weeza]

12:46 PM on 08/27/2008

CNN should change its name to Fox News 2. Wolf Blitzer is a disgrace. As far as being "Fair & Balanced" it has nothing to do with viewers. It has to do with the out and out lies, deceptive news and the propaganda they deliver on behalf of King George and his court jesters - from Cheney all the way down

PBS or BBC deliver better and more objective news. Our "corporate" controlled stations are merely puppets under the control of their puppetmasters - Bush/Cheney

[MajorKong]

09:12 AM on 08/27/2008

CNN is bad. Fox is worse.

[Trittydi]

12:17 AM on 08/27/2008

Since I'm NOT interested in re-pig-lic propoganda - I don't watch any TV news programs. It's ALL bullshit - every one of them. I don't give a damn about who else is watching - they've got nothing for me - none of them.
*

[bakossi]

11:56 PM on 08/26/2008

Here's the problem with Fox's analysis...it leaves aside the question of whether an audience of 39% Republicans, 33% Democrats is really representative (isn't that what we mean by balanced?) of the American public. Aren't there many more registered Democrats than Republicans at this point, which would mean that a network like MSNBC or CNN with its supposed "Democratic bias" is more representative--and therefore more balanced--than Fox is? Let alone the possibility that Democrats watch the news more than Republicans, because they are more interested in actually knowing what's going on in the world, as opposed to listening to Rush Limbaugh on their commutes and deciding they're satisfied. In which case, again, a Democratic "bias" is more representative of TV news watching than a 39/33 Republican split. As for the shot at Stewart's Oscar ratings, how pathetic is that? Who decides whether to tune into the Oscars (or continue watching them) based on who the host is? Weak, Fox, very weak...

[reasonshouldrule]

08:52 PM on 08/26/2008

That's the best argument I've ever read for recognizing that polls are biased and meaningless. It all depends on the questions you ask, and how you ask them.

[MarceloAbans]

07:47 PM on 08/26/2008

I LoL'd ..

[kimofAZ]

04:02 PM on 08/26/2008

FOX NEWS IS FIXED NEWS! I'll NEVER watch them and CNN is on my nerves lately. How dare CNN try to make the case that Ted Kennedy's speech was BORING and lacked importance! I WAS FULL OF TEARS! This man really believes in the country and Obama. His doctor's told him not to go but he insisted it was his duty!

Fox reports BS and CNN is starting to report the same! SHAME!!!! I'll stick with MSNBC (except for Joe's show).

[ThomasJM]

03:41 PM on 08/26/2008

There are many comments here, so I don't know if someone has already pointed this out, but the logical deduction from the statistics put out by FOX "News" is that Republicans don't watch the news (assuming the ratings are not much more skewed than I think they are). If only 39% of those watching FOX say they are Republican, what are all the other people who say they are Republican watching?

On a side note, who's watching is not an indication of who thinks the show is "fair and balance", it is an indication of who is interested in "what the other guy is saying".

[booksnmore4you]

03:30 PM on 08/26/2008

You probably know, but most people have forgotten, that FOX won as convention pool provider of video and audio streams for NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN.

It was utterly amazing last night to watch the cut away shots, the ones on faces. MOST were of people frowning or bored.

This needs urgent progressive media attention to hold them accountable.

Spread this message around!

[etea89]

03:00 PM on 08/26/2008

Viewership doesn't show how balanced a network is. What this study likely shows is that democrats actually care about what's going on in the world so they just watch more news than republicans.

[Dari]

03:13 PM on 08/26/2008

Agreed. What a 'skewed' definition of what constitutes 'balanced'....the declared political persuasion and not the 'content' of the news.... How lame!

Also, the Neilson ratings for 18 - 34 are for Keith Olbermann on MSNBC vs O'Reilly or Campbell Brown over at CNN......

BTW, both my husband & I are loyal Countdown viewers but not in the above age demographic. Just respect well researched news.

[zippywpinhead]

02:40 PM on 08/26/2008

George Orwell must be rolling in his grave...

[pbley68]

01:33 PM on 08/26/2008

Fox News bias: Republican =99.9%.