Nattering Nabobs at ESPN
Question: Where else besides Fox News can one track daily talking points promoting special interests?
Answer: ESPN Radio.
Maybe not all of you live where the only sports radio available is ESPN, and every show has the same five or six stories over and over. After awhile, what else can they bring up on LeBron, Bret, etc. Listeners to ESPN get nearly day long tracking of all things Yankee and Red Sox, with maybe a story from Chicago, Miami or Philadelphia. Those of us outside of the Eastern time Zone, and particularly those in Pacific and further west know acutly - ESPN has an Eastern bias no matter how they spin it is well known here, and here and of course here.
But it seems to work at Fox News too, where they regularly use Republican Party talking points, claim they aren’t biased, or don’t spin - try here, here and here. Apparently the idea is to spread the same four or five crazy points over and over every day and your ratings will go up. But it’s not the majority view they are talking about. Fox talks on and on about how they beat the other news programs, even though they apparently have lost 21% from last year for all viewers and down 26% for young viewers. But surely we are talking about the biggest TV shows, right? This method of going over the same, although clearly partisan, racist and divisive issues, over and over again, for a party that was crushed in 2008 has worked to make them a top show, right? Well, results for the last week show Fox News - not in the top 25 cable shows?
| Rank | Program | Network | Day | Time | Viewers (000) |
| 1 | NFL REGULAR SEASON L (SAINTS/49ERS) | ESPN | MONDAY | 8:30 PM | 15,120 |
| 2 | JERSEY SHORE 2 | MTV | THURSDAY | 10:00 PM | 5,954 |
| 3 | ICARLY | NICK | SATURDAY | 8:00 PM | 5,201 |
| 4 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 11:00 AM | 4,738 |
| 5 | PAWN STARS | HIST | MONDAY | 10:30 PM | 4,670 |
| 6 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 11:30 AM | 4,596 |
| 7 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 9:30 AM | 4,502 |
| 8 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 10:30 AM | 4,495 |
| 9 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 10:00 AM | 4,340 |
| 10 | PAWN STARS | HIST | MONDAY | 10:00 PM | 4,281 |
| 11 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 9:00 AM | 4,169 |
| 12 | SONNY WITH A CHANCE | DSNY | SUNDAY | 8:30 PM | 4,012 |
| 13 | BIG TIME RUSH | NICK | SATURDAY | 8:30 PM | 3,978 |
| 14 | NASCAR SPRINT CUP L (DOVER) | ESPN | SUNDAY | 1:00 PM | 3,966 |
| 15 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) | USA | MONDAY | 10:00 PM | 3,949 |
| 16 | SPORTSCENTER: L | ESPN | MONDAY | 11:58 PM | 3,930 |
| 17 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) | USA | MONDAY | 9:00 PM | 3,907 |
| 18 | ICARLY | NICK | SUNDAY | 5:00 PM | 3,883 |
| 19 | COLLEGE FOOTBALL PRIME L (SOUTH CAROLINA/AUBURN) | ESPN | SATURDAY | 7:41 PM | 3,813 |
| 20 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SUNDAY | 9:30 AM | 3,608 |
| 21 | FRED: THE MOVIE | NICK | SUNDAY | 12:00 PM | 3,588 |
| 22 | FRED: THE MOVIE | NICK | FRIDAY | 8:00 PM | 3,557 |
| 23 | COLLEGE FOOTBALL PRIME L (MIAMI/PITTSBURGH) | ESPN | THURSDAY | 7:30 PM | 3,520 |
| 24 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SUNDAY | 11:30 AM | 3,506 |
| 25 | SONS OF ANARCHY | FX | TUESDAY | 10:00 PM | 3,480 |
That’s right! Not only did three football games and eight separate Spongebob beat all the Fox News shows, so did Fred the Movie - twice.
And what about the boys, and girls, at ESPN. They still cling to the inpression they don’t have the bias - as Colin Coherd says, “ we just cover what the people want.” So if there are more Yankee and Red Sox fans then they get stories every day, where an equally competitive San Francisco Giants team might some love once a month. Boston College might have a football team, and they get a great puch from ESPN, but they really wouldn’t be expected by many in the football world to EVER beat Texas or Ohio State. Sure, Doug Flutie had a wonderful freak pass, and the people in the northeast eat it up - but what ratings would this week’s BC game get in Alaska? What about Oregon where it would be up against Oregon - Stanford? But, How many days will viewers in Alaska or Oregon have to watch Yankees or Red Sox when the Mariners or Giants have a game?
It’s one game for the country for ESPN even though it doesn’t have a shot at being a majority draw across the spectrum - just big in the market where the teams are from.
Same for Fox News - it may draw huge with the small target market they are shooting for, but that market is also shrinking. The same points over and over appealing to a small group apparently is not working.
