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

[Hillrick]

Perhaps they can make this claim because you can only watch the other two stations if you have cable.

[Marcee]

This is hilarious and, as usual, FOX has skewed the research. I read the entire study and FOX has neatly extrapolated only one, small section of a much longer study: citing the "partisan profile" of viewers (i.e., Republican, Democrat, Independent). With exceedingly close numbers, Fox's audience may be ever-so-slightly more mixed partisan wise. However, FOX left out all sorts of other meaningful data. CNN got a 30% rating versus FOX'S 23% for viewers believing all or most of what they see/hear. CNN has a 32% college-educated audience, MSNBC has a 37% college educated audience with Fox showing the lowest number of college-educated viewers with 25%. FOX can try to convince people that a "partisan profile" means the same thing as being partisan but anyone with half a brain gets it. Without a doubt, FOX presents the most right-leaning content available to cable viewers.

[boogygran]

Kudos on your research - Of course, the information povided by fauxnews didn't ring true at all, but I'd have been to lazy to pursue, my bad.

[Liberal2]

Yes, and of the FOX "college-educated" viewers...how many are Bob Jones and Liberty College "graduates"?

[Wigelah]

I can't even believe that they are able to say fair and balanced with a straight face. ITheir slogan is one of the worst cases of false advertisement EVER.

[robmclaughjr]

Our family finds Fox "News" very offensive. I don't understand how any moderate or liberal can stand to watch it. They continually lie and ask their viewers to hate us (moderates and liberals). They've even gone so far as to say that we should be imprisoned or killed for our thoughts. Their local news affiliates are nothing but ambulance chasers. How can one even trust the weather reports of an organization that rejects the scientific method? We don't watch anything on Fox "News" or any connected network, including the Fox Network, FX, and National Geographic. Fox "News" is as fair and balanced as the Ku Klux Klan, whom I am sure prefer them to CNN or MSNBC. Fox "News" is the very embodiment of government by corporation, in other words, Fascism.

[Liberal2]

Ya know, I suspect many FOX viewers are guys who just want to check out the FOX bimbos. Unfortunately, CNN is taking a turn in that direction too.

[OutsourcedAgain]

As I recall, the Pew Research Center is basically shill for the RNC. So who cares about what they have to say. Real thinkers watch the different programs and make up their own minds. They don't need the Pew Research Center to tell them what to think.

[UltraClassic]

What else do you recall Outsourced? Have you watched MSNBC lately? Did you watch the profile done on Obama by Fox? You tell me outsourced, which outfit is slanted?

KeithO and RachelO, talk about two pathetic hacks attempting to be reporters. It would be funny if it were not so pathetic.

[bluzz]

And your falafel man is some bastion of journalism, right. Sean(we found wmd's) Hannity is friign' wing-nut who spits lie after lie after spin. The funny thing is is the BillO is the most independent of the lot...which is very sickening, of course.

[mc2714]

Olbermann does not claim that Countdown is non-editorial or biased. The level of editorial content is strong--I happen to agree with most of his views, but when I dont I still find his arguements compelling. Can ANYONE say that about Billy-- he's just a small little whiny man pretending to be 'balanced'-- he'd be much more credible if he dropped that pretense (but his content would still suck).

When Keith puts on his journalist hat for things like election coverage, I find him to be very solid and, yes, "balanced". Chris Matthews should take notes...

[glesslib]

Olbermann may have his shortcomings, but he was the first on-air TV personality to point out that the Emperor (Bush) had no clothes and that the war in Iraq was and is a huge farce. If that makes him a political hack in your eyes, that's sad. It makes him a cut above for many of us.

[boogygran]

And RachelO, as you label her, has been featured as a "Dem analyst" on the shows (for instance David Gregory) that she's been part of on MSNBC - as a counterbalance to the obvious "Rep analysts" who appear on the same shows - who are there for the purpose of giving "their takes" on various comments, etc by both parties. She has always made it clear that she speaks her opinion and hasn't claimed to be a newscaster. D. Gregory's show overall allows both sides to have their say, although my personal opinion is that David himself has been more slanted toward the Repubs.

[bmaggiemay]

Fox news more balanced...Oh I'm rolling on the floor and laughing into hysterics. The Pew research is drinking the Republican Kool Aid. I blocked Fox new three years ago because they are not a news source, they are nothing more than a republican propaganda outlet. O'Reilly, Hannity, Tucker could give a fair accounting of any story with the Lord sitting beside them. They are a disgrace to any real journalists or reporter.

[JohnnieP]

If you want to learn something worth learning, be intelligent and watch Keith Olbermann on "Countdown," on MSNBC @8:00+10:00 P.M. from Monday-Friday. Intlligent people
watch Keith O. , religiously. On the other hand, ignoramouses watch the garbage spewed
by Bill Orally, John Hannity and the rest of the right-wing blow-hards who pretend to do the
news, and, misguidedly buy the B.S. they pass off as "The Truth" every weekday night.
In their cases, Ignorance really is bliss.

[JScott]

FNC news may be ok but it's the 'shows' that are crap-H&C, Billo etc., I might watch if they took those off.

[GV97]

If CNN has Democratic viewers.... these viewers must be disappointed in CNN !

The only news station that only gets me half mad.... is MSNBC !!

[Swerinjer]

Why would repugs watch CNN if they have Fox? This is a joke. I hate fox and republicans worse than ever.

[madashellvoter]

Excuse me, but who TOOK this poll? I just don’t believe it, specially coming from FOX.
I never believed in what they said in the past, and for good reason, I’m not going to start now.
I don't know any Democrats or independents who watch Fox. PERIOD!!!

[booksnmore4you]

I watch all of these goons.

Note that I watch goons when I do.

[IslandGyal]

Who intelligent thinking person wants to listen to Sean Hannity, Bill-O the clown, et al talk disparagingly about the Black man all night?

[johnnyboy69]

what a joke cnn is as conservative as fox news,they just aren't as blatant as them.cnn has been promoting the conservative agenda since governer bush stole the election in 2000

[mrsbee]

CNN is not Democratic party-prone...they are Hillary-party prone !!

[jood42]

Wait, wait...

demographic analysis of audience = fair representation of broadcasted content?

IN WHAT UNIVERSE?

[arachne646]

I agree. The research isn't in the article, and the viewers might be watching as little as the start of their "favorite" talk show to get their adrenaline flowing for the morning road rage to work. Who knows? But a self-described snapshot of an audience's party affiliation does not show how balanced or unbalanced a channel's "journalism" is.

It's advertising, baby.