Ratings are everything to News organizations. They need good ratings to sell more advertisement space, to make more money, to then in-turn pay for their operation costs. So what happens when one news organization questions the ratings of another news organization? You get the comical back and forth between MSNBC and Fox News.
A few weeks ago Fox News debuted news reporter Megyn Kelly's new show "The Kelly File" in their 9pm time slot, going head to head with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow show. Well it would appear that Megyn Kelly's show was a success, she had great numbers the first night (Monday) and by the next night (Tuesday) she had double her viewership - spanking the Rachel Maddow Show.
Now enter MSNBC president Phil Griffin, he called for an investigation into Megyn Kelly's numbers, not believing them to be true. So Nieslens did an investigation and concluded that the numbers were correct. The Kelly File had doubled its viewership in one day.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/10/16/megyn-kellys-ratings-rise-legit-nielsen/
Now while Fox News plays this "investigation" up to "Fox Paranoia" - which is the main stream or liberal media not understanding how Fox News can have the highest ratings of News organizations on television. I person see this as a business man who is mad that his product - the Rachel Maddow Show - is not performing to bigger audience so he can increase his advertisement sales. As much as some would like to paint this as liberal against conservative, I think it comes down to dollar vs. dollar.
I would agree with you. In the end, its all about money. The networks are going to cover what gets them the most profits. This is evident in Fox, I think the most. Fox News is notoriously conservative, yet one can switch over to Fox network's primetime shows and see the more liberal points of view. Family Guy has made clear criticisms of Fox News. Does Fox care? No. They will broadcast whatever brings them profits whether its the Simpsons or the O'Reilly Factor. Very interesting post.
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