
<p>CNN and MSNBC are becoming the Hamas of cable news – firing salvos of media rockets at FOX News – and other conservative outlets – on a daily basis. ; Made me wonder what impact the barrage of mendacious accusations have had on the long-time number one network in cable news. ; So, I thought I should check. ; My curiosity was timely as the new ratings came out recently.</p>



<p>Weeeell … it did not take long to get the answer. ; As I called up the ratings on my computer, the first headline I saw said “FOX News crushes competition in 3Q (third quarter) ratings.” ; That was the report as of September 2021. ; The next headline read, “FOX News Again Averages More Viewers than MSNBC and CNN Combined.”</p>



<p>Then there is this one: “<a href="https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/wednesday-oct-13-scoreboard-tucker-carlson-the-five-and-hannity-are-cable-news-top-rated-shows/491691/">Tucker Carlson, The Five, and Hannity Are Cable News’ Top-Rated Shows</a>.” ; And this one should make CNN’s media maven Brian Stelter apoplectic: “Tucker Carlson Finishes No. 1 Across the Board.”</p>



<p>FOX has a total audience share of 1,759,000 compared to 575,000 for CNN and 926,000 for MSNBC. ; In Prime time, FOX does even better with 2,598,000. ; CNN’s 749,000 falls behind MSNBC’s 1,522,000. ; In both cases, FOX approximately doubles the audience of each of its primary competitors. With a miserable third place finish, how long can CNN keep promoting itselves as “the most watched news.”</p>



<p>What surprised me was how poorly CNN came out – especially their star anchors. ; In the 10 p.m. time slot, Don Lemon has half the audience of MSNBC’s Larry O’Donnell and a piddly one-third of FOX’s Laura Ingraham. ; In the 11 p.m. time slot, Lemon has less than one-half of MSNBC’s Brian Williams and approximately one-fifth of FOX’s Greg Gutfeld.</p>



<p>CNN’s senior personality, Wolf Blitzer pulls less than one-third of his FOX competitor, Bret Baier. ; CNN’s Anderson Cooper gets one-fourth of Tucker Carlson and two-thirds of what MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.</p>



<p>What is significant is that FOX is doing better than in some of the past ratings. ; They have always been on top, but not by as much as they are today.</p>



<p>I will give my opinion as to why FOX is doing so well. ; The American viewing audience is not as stupid or gullible as the left-wing networks believe. ; People are getting tired of CNN’s and MSNBC’s constant anti-Republican, anti-conservative and (shall we say) anti-American values. ; In many ways, there is no new news on those networks. ; Because they are stuck with their insurrection narrative, CNN and MANBC show the old videos on the January 6<sup>th</sup> riot as if it happened yesterday. ; ;</p>



<p>Folks probably want updates on the border crisis that are rare found on CNN and almost never on MSNBC. ; Trump gets a hundred times more coverage than the bunker-bound President Biden. ; Folks like to hear from both sides – and there is no doubt that FOX will present real counterpoints in most of their newscasts. ; CNN on occasion and MSNBC virtually never.</p>



<p>People may have varying opinions to explain the relative popularity of the three major cable news networks, but the numbers are the numbers. ; The two left-leaning networks cannot put a dent in FOX’s number one status – even is you combined their viewship.</p>



<p>If there is any political meaning to be drawn from these numbers – and I think there is – the Democrats should be worrying about 2022. ; Worrying? ; They should be pooping bricks. ; I suspect they are.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>