We're now seeing the crumbling of the Fox News empire as we know it.
I go weekly to catch the ratings of cable news shows in the 25 to 54 year old demo. Those are the only viewers advertisers care about, and I've seen MSNBC prime time gradually steal those viewers from Fox over the past year or so. Beginning election day, MSNBC shows like Mathews and Maddow have consistently overtaken their competitors on Fox nearly every day of the week. O'Reilly's a tough one, so Ed hasn't fared as well, but even he has narrowed the race in his unenviable time slot.
Money talks and bullshit walks away with a gimp in this business, and Murdoch will now be forced to re-examine his ideals vs his wallet, and even the skeptics know how that will turn out. Ratings are starkly Darwinian in nature, and will weed out the weak, and Murdoch will have to emulate his competition if he wants to remain on top. I'm sure O'Reilly's show is safe for now, but the others will have to either adapt or spend the rest of their careers pushing gold coins and Carbonite™ over the squealing static of AM radio.
How will the Freeps and TeaBillies take it when the realize they have become quaintly passe' in the world of TV news? Remember, these people issue death threats when their TV heros even hint that a Democrat may anything other than the political incarnation of Satan. Alan Colmes comes to mind:
MSNBC rode the wave of Pres. Obama’s re-election doubling the number of younger viewers who watched primetime in Nov. ’11. MSNBC was up +108% in A25-54 viewers in primetime (8-11pm). The network — #2 behind Fox News — dropped a bit from October, but still grew its total day demo viewership experiencing its best month in almost 10 years.
The ratings for November 2012:
•Primetime (Mon-Sun): 1,284,000 Total Viewers / 447,000 A25-54
•Total Day (Mon-Sun): 723,000 Total Viewers / 258,000 A25-54
“Hardball with Chris Matthews,” “Politics Nation,” “The Ed Show” and “Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” had record months. “Martin Bashir” at 4pm and “The Last Word” at 10pm posted the best total viewer delivery in the history of MSNBC in those time periods.
MSNBC finished as the 10th most-watched network on all of cable and had the biggest year-over-year gain among any cable network in the top 30 for the month. Many shows had their best total viewer months since Nov. ’08, including “Morning Joe” — #2 behind “Fox & Friends” — and “The Daily Rundown” which drew the best 9am audience ever among A25-54 and “Jansing and Company” at 10am which had its best A25-54 delivery ever and the best demo performance in the hour since Nov. 2008.
Article continued here:
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/november-2012-ratings-msnbc-doubles-audience-in-past-year_b156669
You can follow the daily tally of ratings yourself here:
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/category/ratings
I keep the link on my desktop and follow it like many keep up with their hometown sports team. I love this game.
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HA, I can't even type that with a straight face. Great news! 
Sure, she chooses the day's topic, and that may be something that spotlights republican shenanigans, but she seldom spins to a far left bias, and she always greets the few righties that visit with great respect, never interrupting until they've made their point. Last month I saw her give Josh Mandel's website out on air in fairness because Sherrod Brown stated his own.
I love how she starts the show out about something abstract and leaves the viewer wondering where she's going with that. Perhaps she'll begin by speaking about cantaloupes in Brazil, but before you know it we're listening intently to a story about the filibuster. I can't believe they have time to write and put that kind of show together on time every day. Obviously, she's a workaholic and demands the same from her staff.
Maddow has often said she's a liberal in a sense that channels the spirit of Ike Eisenhower.
Glad to see someone else feels that way!
... there's just no way the Morans would cross the chasm.
More likely, MSNBC is cultivating an audience of NEW viewers, folks who didn't previously watch politico-type news/talk evening shows. That more of them are going to MSNBC as opposed to Faux, however, is a good sign.
I still prefer Cenk Ugyur and Eliot Spitzer's shows on Current, though. 
What do you do if your Market Share is declining?
Push all the others Out-of-the-Market!
The Murdoch Media Empire is set to receive a HUGE Christmas gift from our FCC.
http://www.adweek.com/news/television/fccs-genachowski-circulates-media-ownership-order-145194
There IS a petition here,
for all the good THAT will do.
Rupert Murdoch — the guy who’s under investigation in England for phone hacking, influence peddling and bribery — wants to get his mitts on the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. These are the major papers in the nation's second- and third-largest cities (where, incidentally, Murdoch already owns TV stations).
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is trying to change the agency’s ownership rules to pave the way for Murdoch to get exactly what he wants. Worse, Genachowski and Murdoch are keeping this all very hush-hush, hoping you won't notice.
These changes wouldn’t just benefit Murdoch. If the FCC proposal passes, one company could own the major daily newspaper, two TV stations and up to eight radio stations in your town. And that one company could be your Internet provider, too. What is the FCC thinking?!?
http://act.freepress.net/sign/murdoch_powergrab/?source=website_node_feature
more here:
"Word is that Murdoch now covets the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune — the bankrupt-but-still-dominant newspapers (and websites) in the second- and third-largest media markets, where Murdoch already owns TV stations.
Under current media ownership limits, he can't buy them. It's illegal ... unless the Federal Communications Commission changes the rules.
But according to numerous reports, that's exactly what FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski plans to do. He's circulating an order at the FCC to lift the longstanding ban on one company owning both daily newspapers and TV stations in any of the 20 largest media markets.
And he wants to wrap up this massive giveaway just in time for the holidays.
http://www.freepress.net/blog/2012/11/19/why-obama-fcc-plotting-massive-giveaway-rupert-murdoch
The FCC commissioner is appointed by the President, and serves at the pleasure of The President.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski was appointed by President Obama in 2009,
is close personal friend and major Bundler for the 2008 Obama campaign.
It is reported that FCC Commissioner Genachowski and President Obama are old college buddies,
and that they play basketball together.
