DISQUS

Jim · 1 year ago

Perhaps one cannot make too much of it, but I find it of some interest that after Wednesday Evening "Special Comment" by Keith where he definitely enjoyed a spoke in the demo audience he was not able to keep that audience on the same level. Further, it appears that the next night O'Reilly saw a considerable increase in total views while Keith's total audience declined considerably. Reason may say that we cannot conclude a cause and effect related to Keith's ranting. I don't mind Keith giving reasoned opinions so much as his "over the top" delivery. He comes across as a lunatic rather than a serious commentator. O'Reilly is also opinionated, but he comes across more reasoned plus he does at least allow differing opinions.

Mark Trapp · 1 year ago

Sticking purely to the ratings issue and avoiding your personal politics, it's most likely due to the advertisement that there would be a special comment that night, and people tune in to see what Olbermann has to say. Since there was no special comment the next day, Olbermann's ratings went back to normal. He tends to always get a ratings bump when he does a special comment, as most programming does when they air a "special."

TV by the Numbers · 1 year ago

It's extremely difficult to narrow down cause and effect for daily variations in nightly news shows like these except when there are obvious factors like big interviews, breaking news stories, election/primary nights, etc.

The variations in the Countdown audience for the week above are pretty much on the level of random noise.

Doug · 1 year ago

People aren't defecting from KO to BOR depending on the day or the week. Two very different shows catering to two very different audiences. My guess is that 95+% of each shows audience has never seen the other.

Mike d · 1 year ago

I'm somebody who watches both shows occasionally. Watching Olbermann's show for the last year and O'Reilly's show for over 6 years now. In my opinion, O'Reilly's show has changed from a political talk show into something that is just his personal soapbox. It's not really about politics at all anymore ... O'Reilly is obsessed with maintaining his image as a "culture warrior". His age really shows when he talks about things related to the Internet, he seems to have no grip on reality (the amount of time he spends compaining about liberal blogs and youtube videos is getting ridiculous).

On the other hand, even if you don't agree with a word Olbermann is saying, at least he is talking about things that matter. For me, I'm interested in politics, the presidential horse race, etc. and Countdown is a much better show.

AL · 1 year ago

olberman has a much better show....wow!!1You are drinking kool aid from mars,i am a independent.I watch oreilly's show and i tivo olberman,just to see what stupidness he'll say about oreilly.Olberman's best part is oddball,that's when the sportscaster in him shines.NAME THE LAST CONSERVATIVE OR REPUBLICAN THAT DISSENTED WITH HIS OPINION ON THAT SHOW???i'm waiting,did you see his interview with clinton?Boringville,did you see oreilly's?Ok..so how in the world is his show better.You need dissenting opinions.What happens when bill goes on vacation and bush leaves office?...The end of his show!!No more mission accomplish,or BUSHED,This gate and that gate.If obama wins...olberman's show will get cancelled trust me!!!Cause he won't dis Obama's administration.What will nbc/msnbc do???

Doug · 1 year ago

When I had cable last year, I occasionally watched both, but mostly stuck with KO. I do agree that he is much more topical and taking things on that the MSM have mostly been glossing over, while BOR is much more staid and obviously appealing to the 70 year olds who think the country's morals are going to hell and a handbasket. I admire you for being able to handle any of these shows for 6 years though - I burned out after about a month.

rclopez · 1 year ago

OReilly has intelligent viewing, and Olberman is for laughs.

jimbo422 · 1 year ago

Olbermann is a JERK

Doug · 1 year ago

Nice contributions!

LarryL · 1 year ago

IF Keith "Countdown" and Bill 'The Factor" have two different missions and two different audiences, why does Keith spend an insane amount of time focusing on Bill.
Keith puts Bill on his "worse person" list just because he needs to. Why this obsession with Bill O'rielly ? . What purpose does it serve and do viewers give a damn. The ratings show Bill more interesting (doesnt mean they agree with him) and Keith too terse all the time. Watching a guy rant like Keith turns most people off
even if Keith's comments maybe on target. My friends do not care for either.

Reggie · 1 year ago

When Keith Olbermann became unreasonably tanked for Obama, he lost his compass. O'Reilly is obnoxious but he has not lost his compass and has not sold himself to the highest bidder. I used to be a fan until Olbermann annointed Obama Jesus Christ. The whole msn network has lost its compass. Maybe because it's owner GE got legislation from Obama that deregulated govt. oversight over Excelon (nuclear waste into water in Illinois) or hoping that Obama will allow GE to continue to sell Iran nuclear parts. People are not stupid. Maybe the PHD's are falling for Obama's lies but real people are still grounded.

Egg-Bert · 1 year ago

Olbermanns toupee must have been on too tight when he made his psychotic comments

truthbtold · 1 year ago

Keith Olbermann is just an angry man in a clown suit. No sober adult takes him seriously. His smallness is measured in his "special" comments. There's nothing special about ridicule and sarcasm. It reflects upon his upbringing. Shame on Mr & Mrs. Olbermann. They raised a scared child.

Doug · 1 year ago

Seriously, does BOR pay people to troll the internet and find forums like these? Like clockwork, wherever his ratings are listed, his minions show up to trash KO.

A Moderate · 1 year ago

I have watched both shows periodically. Olbermann never has a kind word to say for anyone really. Perhaps for Obama. Certainly never criticizes him. He is one angry man. O'Reilly is angry occassionally and is certainly funny when he pretends to be "fair and balanced" since he is so obviously a right winger. They are actually opposite sides of the same coin. Olberrmann is jealous that O'Reilly has a bigger audience and is obsessed with him. That is why he has him on his "worst person's" list every other day. O'Reilly is mad about this which is why he is going after GE. Both of them should grow up and get on with their jobs.

Travis · 1 year ago

Yes, he does. Fortunately his audience are rapidly dropping dead from old age. Oh, and keep on attacking GE, Billy Liar. They're far too small to fight a giant ego like yours.

Travis · 1 year ago

The previous comment was a response to Doug, who wrote: "Seriously, does BOR pay people to troll the internet and find forums like these? Like clockwork, wherever his ratings are listed, his minions show up to trash KO."

Egg-Bert · 1 year ago

Olberjackass is an unstable hack. Check this out

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008...

Egg-Bert · 1 year ago

Whoaaa big numbers for Keith Slobbermans boy toy the ugly Rachel Maddow 416,000 viewers. Meanwhile O Reilly Blows her ugly face out of the water

jimbo422 · 1 year ago

I watched the boy toy lezbo friday night and thought her attack on bill o was typical of what her (him) and k.o. do on a nightly basis. The lolly licker is on the same destructive path that k.o. is on. They are both raving loonatics who have a short coming. And they say (dems) that only the repubs fight dirty? I say to all, find out who sponsors their programs and call those companies and tell them you won't buy their products till they stop sponsoring these left wing idiots. As for Sloberman always attacking Bill O. , I suggest everyone go to this site http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008 . http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008...
It's only fair for all to read. Onward Operation Chaos

Joe · 1 year ago

JIMBO & FRIENDS- Thanks for paying so much attention to Keith. Even if you post the type of childish insults that most have stopped using after middle school it's still nice to know there's lots of people paying attention. As for the reason Keith often has BillO as worst person- I assure you he's not obsessed or jealous. It's simply an accurate reflection that to those of us under the age of 55 most of what comes out of BillO's mouth is quite.....oh how do you say....douchebag-esque. This explains why Keith does so well in the category that most care about 25-54. It was even the most watched show in this important category when his talented guest host Rachel Maddow hosted. It's rather immature and quite like BillO to attack her on what may be her sexual preference. I think it's one thing to disagree with someone's point of view. But to call a company to boycott their product because you disagree? Sorry but that's just stupid. It's called freedom of speech genius. Hmmm Let's see the guy that uses a homophobic slur at the beginning of his statement and then calls for a boycott of advertisers to supress someone's differing opinion- the epitome of: dittohead, neocon, republican. I think those all apply no?

jimbo422 · 1 year ago

Joe, it's so stupid that it worked in getting air america off of the airwaves in Cincinnati.You're right, I have freedom of speech and plan on using it. As for being a douchbag, I think Keith is the king of that department.

Egg-Bert · 1 year ago

Face it Joe. Keith Slobberman and his boy toy Rachel Maddow are trainwrecks. You and the Barack Hussein Obama sheep with drool dripping off your mouths like mindless drones better recognize Listen to Egg-Bert

Joe · 1 year ago

Jimbo- as long as you acknowledge that it is indeed stupid-cool. The fact that it's effective doesn't make it right. I think the fact that Air America for the most part sucks probably played a larger role in it being taken off of the airwaves however.
Eggman- what exacactly am I supposed to recognize? What am I supposed to face? the fact that Countdown is an extremely successful show for MSNBC? I think you should examine your own comments. If you do this you'll notice that comments like those that you make bring absolutely nothing to the table. Except that it makes level headed, rational people think that people on "your side" are shallow and void of substance. You speak of mindless drones? how about dittoheads like Jimbo? the term dittohead means exactly that.

Egg-Bert · 1 year ago

Hey Joe? How is Countdown to no ratings a success? O Reilly destroys Overbite night after night. Overbite is a raving lunatic with a bad toupee

jimbo422 · 1 year ago

Joe, you are one of the biggest MORONS here. Your standards are no different than mine. You are just as shallow as anyone else here. Your insults are no more childish than anyone elses. You are just a small dribble down my leg when it comes to facts. Countdown is NOT a successful show for pmsnbc, study the ratings jackclown. Again, get your facts straight Joe, Airheadamerica got taken off the airwaves in Cincinnati because over 200,000 people complained to the station and to their sponsors and thus WE got rid of their trash talking, one sided dribble. Until you idiots learn to get your info from various resources not just the liberal left, don't bother to challenge us. As for being mindless, Joe, you have to be the winner on that one. So for today, I present you with the WORST Person in the World trophy. Now get on your short bus and lick the windows.

Joe · 1 year ago

Jimbo- Thanks for proving and making my point much stronger.

BTW- our standards are quite different.

Also- the population of Cincinnati is a little over 300k. It seems highly unlikely that;
a) this percentage of the population (200k)pays attention to talk radio
b) this percentage of the population would complain to sponsors
c) that there are that many people like you in that city
translation- you're full of crap

Also I used my "Jackclown" fingers (don't know what a jackclown is?) to study the ratings as you suggested. I copied the following right from this website:
May 2nd, 2008 by Robert Seidman
8PM - P2+ (25-54)

The O’Reilly Factor- 3,193,000 viewers (694,000)

CNN Election Center- 561,000 viewers (151,000)

Countdown w/Olbermann - 1,183,000 viewers (452,000)

Fast Money- 180,000 viewers (67,000)

Nancy Grace - 579,000 viewers (171,000)

Countdown looks pretty succesful by anyone's standards. Maybe you should complain to the Bill Gorman & Robert Seidman to have these stats taken off the site because you don't agree with them? Or maybe you should e-mail the advertisers on this website and complain that this site should be shut down because you can't yell louder than everyone that doesn't agree with you like your boy BillO does?

jimbo422 · 1 year ago

Just because I use the word Cincinnati, does not mean that the signal from a radio station only goes out to just that city. This is a tri-state area.I don't know where you got your population figure from, but it is wrong. We just got done changing out all the water meters in Cinci and by the numbers, we changed out 262,000 meters. That would put less than 1 person in that house or business. The only reason why K.O had 1,183,000 viewers was that there were that many people out there that wanted to see him rant and rave and finally put the gun in his mouth and pull the trigger.

Egg-Bert · 1 year ago

Hey Joe. O Reilly gets more than twice the viewers as Keith Slobberman. Face it Olberdork is a loser and the biggest sleazeball on TV. He calls the troops cold blooded killers. PMSNBC should suspend him. Olberdork is nothing put a pimple on an old ladys ass. Hes a bottom feeding scum of the earth. GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK . You heard it from Egg-Bert

Joe · 1 year ago

thanks for clearing that up eggman. keep up the good work.

jimbo422 · 1 year ago

Joe, you are so full of crap on just about everything you say. When did I ever say that I don't agree with these ratings? I think you are just one of the many disgruntled dems that just can't take it anymore. You put words in other peoples mouths when you don't even know what you are talking about. I suggest you find a 3rd or 4th grade site and do your dribble there. Hell, even Laura Ingraham subbing for Bill O. had better ratings than Sloberman, go figure

Joe · 1 year ago

Jimbo- you're right man. I'm going to take your advice and get on the short bus now and I just might lick the windows. all the while being a jackclown and a moron. Until I can come up with a way to morph O'reilly's name into half insult half name I just can't keep up with your intellect and wit. Wait let me try- Bill O'lielly....no, no that's not nearly as good as slobberman. I mean you guys (egghead) are geniuses, you got PMSNBC, Olberdork, Slobberman, Overbite, Olberjackass, Lezbo, Boy toy, lolly licker, airhead america, ugly Rachel Maddow and I may have missed some but wow- that's impressive. You guys win! Thanks for the enlightenment! And thanks for keeping the discussion to such high standards.

Frag · 1 year ago

Maybe just maybe duggy most people are able to see KO for the bad sportscasting reject baffon he is

Jake · 1 year ago

I don't believe a thing Bill O'Reilly says as he lies and skews the truth constantly. His rant about GI's living under bridges comments come to mind. I do however think that KO does spend too much time on BOR and as an MSNBC viewer is becoming a little tired. I usually dvr from Race to the White House on through Hardball to Countdown. I have been starting to skip through the Countdown segments since no intelligent person should believe BOR anyways so why watch KO rant about it?

truthbtold · 1 year ago

MSNBC's show is a Countdown to KO's implosion. Keith is the multi-car pile up that you know is going to happen when the highway is foggy and wet. Keith is the idiot driving 90+ in the right hand lane and we're the freeway rubber-neckers hopping for a glimpse of the aftermath. Poor bastard probably thinks we're fans.

Carlos · 1 year ago

When will looney Keith have a guest that will disagree with him? never I say since he can't handle the truth. There are two constants on his show, 1) Bill O' as the worst person and 2) the dyke chick, or is it the dyke rooster?. Then maybe he does have guests with different views,since I don't watch his very much.except to see him name Bill O' the worst person. What a pathetic loser

Occam · 1 year ago

Oderman is a failed sports anchor, a failed serious news commentator, and now working at failing as comic buffoon. His whole "thing" based upon his parasitic attachment to Bill O. Without Bill O, Oderman is nothing, and has nothing.

WRB · 1 year ago

It looks to me that Olberman has a viewing audience of 1...himself. This guy is so self absorbed in his own importance that he demonstrates his own insecurity as an honest reporter by not permitting a differing opinion or allowing for any correction of his gross overstatements for confusing fiction for facts. In reality, the management of this show is showing their ignorance by letting this twit blather on and on and on. Get the hook, not for the moron that needs a number to identify which script he needs to read, but for management that has let this buffoon continue for so long. I don't know how they can sell advertising for this show and still make a profit.

Bee · 1 year ago

"Hardball"? Getting killed? I think you're a bit confused, Dave. The only killing that I saw in relation to "Hardball" was talk show host, Kevin James ( on 5/15/08).

Bee · 1 year ago

Bill-o, is a bully--plain and simple. Interestly though, when folks like Donahue or Letterman engage him, he cowards. By the way, when did Bill become the morality police? After those sexual harassment accusations from a few years ago, he has a nerve trying to preach morality to anyone--especially teenagers.

Kwame · 1 year ago

I would be especially interested in a futher breakdown of the demographics for both shows, specifically, location and political affiliations.

The BO show is certainly not for me; O'Reilly is loud and bordering on idiotic, so I wonder why so many democrats and liberals watch his show simply to bitch and therefore put more money in his pockets and give him greater access to guests. If you don't like the guy don't watch his show.

Interesting though that the numbers are closer between the two in the 18-54 age group. IMO Coundown to the White House is the better show for political discourse and Keith's the more entertaining, but that's just me. It also bothers me that people are so passionate about leaving commentary here...you guys better be paid talking heads.

TV by the Numbers · 1 year ago

Kwame, I'd be interested in a further breakdown of the demographics too, but the data above is all we've got ;)

If you want to see the numbers behind the charts, take a look at our daily Cable News posts.

AL · 1 year ago

wait you may not like the show,cause you've never seen it.I got hooked after watching one episode.Why?cause the man speaks his mind no matter who likes what he says.It's the reason simon cowell and gregory house are also so popular.All on FOX..lol,But that's the reason we love oreilly...no one in the media speaks there mind.Ganster RAP...destroys young children,objectifies women...where is olberman or any one else to object to it???Sexual predators raping kids..when did olberman get in a judges face for giving out light sentences.Illegal aliens killing kids,corruption in the media,supporting the troops..i saw oreilly in afghanistan and iraq...where was olberman?You can't even compare them.You got a problem call oreilly,i bet it gets noticed.

Joe · 1 year ago

Al- stupidness? You had me with your first sentence! I love how BillO's people always attack KO for having been a sportscaster before- how about BillO coming from Inside Edition? I think that's very fitting being that BillO focuses on the trivial garbage that he's known for. Have you ever taken into consideration that maybe having guests on from opposite points of view is just not Countdown's format? Have you ever considered that? The fact that his show is one of the few out there like it is dissenting enough for his vast audience. So please stop with that worn out criticism. All of the other points you bring up in your 2nd post are the reason why mostly only old, scared white people (both my parents are old and white but they're not scared of the crap that BillO peddles) watch BillO's stupid show. It shows how out of touch both you and BillO are. Nobody even listens to Ganster rap anymore! You might know this if you didn't get ALL of your info from a bitter old man. The rest of the stuff you mention is commonly refered to as fearmongering.

hurtzallot · 1 year ago

Maybe if Keith were to mary Rachel in San Fransico only then would I find either interesting. Keith a horrific ESPN analisist, and Rachel who's sexuality or opinion I never found offensive until she became Keitherized. Sad day for MSNBC. Could Keith write a book on the cult worship of the FACTOR? He is the fan clubs biggest donor, what say you?

hurtzallot · 1 year ago

Wow!!! OK how does MSNBC do the math? Olberman says Obama was right all along. The Iraq government agrees to the 16 month pullout of the troop withdrawl. "By the end of 2010, the Americans should be gone." Election is in November. Dec. Jan. 2009. Dec. 2010. 2+12+12=16 in the world according to Keith. We're screwed.