The News Is In: Cable News Is Sucking a Little Wind

Meh?! The word is out and I think all your haters of "Faux News" can have a nice warm cup of shut up. Do you realize according the recent polls that have been addressed, FOX News has been the number one cable news network for 12 long years. 12! That's not your mama's cable news network. And it doesn't matter what big screens Wolfy puts in his situation room, where Anderson rocks his stellar, on-location reporting or whatever the hell MSNBC does to mount up some controversy, no one can touch FOX News. Now while this isn't an endorsement of their rockstar reporting (Megyn Kelly, we're pointing at you and whitey Santa), we are seeing something different in these numbers most aren't discussing. They are all tanking, just a little. And for one very good reason. HuffPo saw what we saw -- although 2012 was an election year (otherwise known as "Nirvana" for cable news networks) -- it hasn't amounted to much. Every network saw a decline in the coveted 25-54 demographic. Yes, even FOX News. Why is this? No one can topple O' Reilly and the gang, but FOX News saw the sharpest decline in numbers with a loss of "19 percent of its audience in the demo during total day, and a whopping 30 percent in primetime." Why? I think all PR pros would agree -- it's quality of coverage getting trumped for trying to be "media personalities." Remember when "Shep" used to be grand poobah at FOX News? Yeah, that's because he is no longer trying to throw his smug zingers during his reporting. Remember when "The Situation Room" was a stop down for political hacks to stump and boast? Today, Wolf Blitzer is doing most of the talking while fighting through what could be a whooping cough. And no one remembers MSNBC outside of Maddow, so we'll move on from there. (Check the ratings folks. That's not a partisan shot.) News used to be just that, news. Now, it's bellowing opinion, shock-value diatribe and talking heads trying to ensure that Capitol Hill continues to be the most segregated institution on the planet since Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. We have to demand better from our pundits, our journalists and our executives or the news will continue to be the Jerry Springer show with Congressional phallic pics, stupefying racial banter and idiots from Alaska monopolizing the air waves. The ratings mean people aren't necessarily demanding better. They are just changing the channel, which to the C-suites, is pretty much the same thing. Because 'Merica!

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The News Is In: Cable News Is Sucking a Little Wind

Shawn Paul Wood

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Shawn Paul Wood