MSNBC loses another 1/4 of its viewers... is the Mainstream Media in decline?

2013 was another year of decline for cable news, with MSNBC losing almost a quarter of its viewers after similar declines the previous year, according to a new Pew Research study. “The Nielsen Media Research data show that the biggest decline came at MSNBC, which lost nearly a quarter (24%) of its prime-time audience. CNN, under new management, ended its fourth year in third place, with a 13% decline in prime time,” states the report. In total, the combined viewership of all three major cable news channels, Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, dropped 11% to its smallest audience since 2007. Not by coincidence, the disapproval rating of President Barack Obama, for whom the likes of CNN and MSNBC have been dutiful water carriers in the midst of numerous scandals, hit a new record high of 59% this week.

Source

It seems as though the American people are ditching the MSM television news outlets in droves. CNN and MSNBC have thus far taken the biggest ratings hits... but even popular Foxnews has not been immune to recent declines in viewership.

I personally quit watching televised network news some time ago. For me, it was a matter of being sick to death of hearing the same repeated rhetoric... the “boob tube” is now better described as an electronic “Skinner Box”; conditioning the masses through audio/visual stimuli...

We ATSers certainly have no love for the MSM; read a few threads and it becomes clearly evident.

The question I pose, is this... Why are the ratings in such a massive decline for MSM news outlets?

1. Are people tuning out simply because they are growing weary of seeing “bad news” day in and day out?

2. Have Americans finally tired of some outlets (CNN/MSNBC) constantly towing the “party line” with regards to the current administration? (OR tired of outlets such as Foxnews constantly bashing the current administration?)

3. Have Americans wised up to the MSM outlets, and decided to no longer listen to the constant propaganda being spewed?

4. Are Americans beginning to see that things aren't what they appear as portrayed by the MSM, and have begun to look at alternate news sources ala Abovetopsecret?

5. Or... have people just quit caring about the news... feeling beaten to submission by the MSM?

What do you think ATS... why the recent decline in the MSM? Where do you think the MSM cable news outlets will be in 5 years?

reply to post by madmac5150


Now I see why Bill Maher keeps inviting MSNBC members to his show.

Yeah, mainstream media is on the decline indeed. The new kind of media is the Left kind of media, such as The Guardian. People love it. I personally don't, I think that ALL media are get pretty much biased after only one year on big business. Usually, money and politics wins over impartiality in most media.

I sure hope ATS stays impartial.

Independent media is on the rise,
Such as Alternet, and LiveLeak, and things such as that. I think maybe people are starting to piece it all together themselves rather than relying on the corporate news.

reply to post by madmac5150


One of my thoughts, is the loss in viewership may equal the number of people who have transferred their time, that used to be spent watching the parrot networks, over to social media. They are now spending that time getting their news bite input from tweeting, facebook and such, on computers and hand held devices.

I still check in with the boob toob, just to track how far behind they are in reporting what I get first on my computer. It's amusing to watch the MSM , with much fanfare, report a so called *breaking story*, that turns out to be something many a time, I've read online days ago.

Plus, the days of active feet on the ground real reporters is long gone. It's all celebrity faces, reading what is shoved in front of them, acting like they actually know what they are talking about.

Des

Only morons beleive msm ,be that t.v or newspapers.
Whatever the msm says the opposite is true.

I'd be lying if I said that I no longer view the MSM outlets... Foxnews and CNN are both media sources I look at everyday; online... I can pick and choose what stories seem relevant to me... and ignore all of the "fluff" (who really cares what Miley Cyrus is up to now... I certainly don't).

Is it all of the celebrity "fluff" stories that have people tuning out? Wouldn't surprise me one bit if it is...

Im far from an expert on the matter but here is my logical opinion on what is probably taking place, even for news I unless like Fox....
People have just simply started to wake up....and its no surprise that the decline in msm viewership coincides with this current administration...that's why once the honeymoon was over liberal news stations and newspaper's started reporting declining numbers...yet Fox news seen to be gaining g momentum ....I think there was a lot of Obama supporters that saw right through the liberal media and we're looking for answers so in a effort to still stay informed they turned to other media sources like Fox News for example....However after time I believe the American people are starting to realize it doesn't matter what news station they watch they all are lying through there teeth and the days of real honest journalism is gone....

I would say the decline is caused by the lack of content. I believe that the MSM stations are just propaganda outlets for the military industrial complex, and the MIC is being more restrictive about what they allow the MSM to air. I watch CNN for about 20 min. to a half hour twice a day, but it seems like it's been wall to wall coverage of Flight 370 for the past 3 weeks. Seriously? Just how much can you report about it? Especially when you don't seem to have any answers. But they seem to do this over the most inane things, while something that really is newsworthy barely gets a mention.

Geroge Zimmerman - six weeks of coverage; Quantatative Easing - two minutes tops. Celebrity wardrobe malfunction - good for a week; drone strike kills schoolchildren - maybe a minute.

I think eventually the MSM will go the way of MTV. Today, if you remember when MTV showed music videos, you are old. There will come a time when people will start to ask, "Remember when CNN had news stories instead of The Real Housewives of the Senate Intelligence Committee?"

reply to post by madmac5150


The demand for unbiased journalism is growing in general, IMHO, not only in the US. The supply is sparse though.

If you read the online-comments and feedback of viewers here in Germany, MANY people from all walks of life are dissatisfied with the biased-style of MSM-reporting. Especially regarding the lopsided rhetoric about NATO / the situation in Ukraine (warmongering).

The German Federal Supreme Court even statet in a ruling that particularly our "public-service-media" doesn't report independent enough in order to carry out the function entrusted to them.

What absolutely blows my mind... Foxnews is the generally the first MSM outlet to jump on any story that counters "climate change"... yet, if you read the "Science" section of Foxnews you will find stories that wholeheartedly support "climate change". If a network wants to make an argument for or against government rhetoric, they could at least pick one side and be consistant in thier approach... instead it is all double-speak and talk-arounds. No wonder 1/4 of the adults in this country are "medicated"... you almost have to be to try to make any sense of it all...

reply to post by madmac5150


I dispise TV, I would like to know how they know who's watching their channels or shows? Do they take a survey in a city or state and apply to the others. I thought about that awhile ago and really want to know now.

Can any member please elaborate how they pull that statistic?

Thanks

AK907ICECOLD
reply to post by madmac5150

 

I dispise TV, I would like to know how they know who's watching their channels or shows? Do they take a survey in a city or state and apply to the others. I thought about that awhile ago and really want o know now.

Can any member please elaborate how they pull that statistic?

Thanks

edit on 27-3-2014 by AK907ICECOLD because: (no reason given)

In 1950, Nielsen moved to television, developing a ratings system using the methods he and his company had developed for radio. That method has since become the primary source of audience measurement information in the television industry around the world.

link

Basically a combination of surveys, unsolicited user admissions and signal scanning tech by various firms. Newer methods include automated scanning of social media to see what shows people are talking about.

And none take into account TV's that are just on. I've been in homes where the TV is just on 24/7 with nobody watching.

madmac5150
What absolutely blows my mind... Foxnews is the generally the first MSM outlet to jump on any story that counters "climate change"... yet, if you read the "Science" section of Foxnews you will find stories that wholeheartedly support "climate change". If a network wants to make an argument for or against government rhetoric, they could at least pick one side and be consistant in thier approach... instead it is all double-speak and talk-arounds. No wonder 1/4 of the adults in this country are "medicated"... you almost have to be to try to make any sense of it all...

it's called being "fair and balanced", thus the saying "we report, you decide" both are slogans fox news uses.

you don't see cnn or msnbc putting a story that counters the stand they take unless they are ridiculing it.

Had to log in to post this as why I think many people are ditching MSM. It has become very apparent that they are just reciting scripts and not reporting "news" anymore. They are just mouth pieces and people are tired of getting pounded with propaganda day in and day out.

I get most of my news from ATS.

You get the spin from all sides pointed out by the people... ahem... debating each other.

Well who has time for it when you're working three jobs just to stay afloat? People get their news when it's convenient for them to do so, not "weeknights at 6".

They've got us spinning our hamster wheels so fast there's not enough time to even properly brainwash us anymore. What's the world coming to?

Of course viewership declined in 2013, because 2012 was an election year. Who could have seen that coming?

(in other words, totally expected)

reply to post by madmac5150


Here's the problem.

People despise MSM.
It is biased.
It portrays an uneven aspect to the news.
It has an agenda.

That's all a given.

So people are going to social media.

Where people take what they saw on MSM and regurgitate it onto a social media site. Where proponents of any given agenda support it ad nauseum

Similar to what goes on here. Really.

We applaud ourselves and pat each other on the back because we are "critical thinkers" who don't watch cable news. Yet we bandy back and forth over the same issues.

Bottom line?

Everyone has an agenda. Don't let them tell you different.

Whether it is for bigger government or less.
Higher taxes or less.
More freedoms or less.
Abortion or not.
Healthcare or not.
Religion or not.
blah blah blah. . . .

Everyone has some sort of skin in the game. They will obviously gravitate towards a market that feeds and supports that individual agenda.

The truth?

Want the truth?

The sun will rise in the morning.
The sun will set at night.


Everything else is pretty much up for grabs.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Thank you. I thought to myself. How about bestbuy when playing msnbc on 45 tv. People are shopping, no watching.

Do they really use that in the ratings as a true statistic? Sadistic....

Thanks for the reply!

Aleister
Of course viewership declined in 2013, because 2012 was an election year. Who could have seen that coming?

(in other words, totally expected)

This year, 2014, IS an election year... not a presidential election, but a very important election cycle that could change the balance of power in the Congress. Will Americans begin to tune back in in the months prior to the election, or will they continue to disregard the MSM in search of other news outlets? Time will tell, but the MSM has done much to destroy their own credibility in the eyes of the public.

I think that the network that changes its tack; exposing TPTB instead of acting as a mouthpiece for them, will be the last one left standing... IMHO