Feb 24 2006
Olbermann’s Ratings Lower Than Donohue’s
Bill O’Reilly, instead of responding to the relentless ankle-biting by low-rated failure Keith Olbermann (who incidentally has less than half the ratings of O’Reilly), has decided to hit the incompetent ratings-bomb where it counts… In his non-existent ratings, by offering a petititon to people to bring back the higher-rated Phil Donohue:
February 22, 2006
Chairman Robert Wright
National Broadcasting Company
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, New York 10112Dear Chairman Wright:
We, the undersigned, are becoming increasingly concerned about the well-being of MSNBC and, in particular, note the continuing ratings failure of the program currently airing weeknights on that network at 8:00 PM EST.
It is now apparent to everyone that a grave injustice has been done to the previous host for that time slot, Phil Donahue, whose ratings, at the time of his show’s cancellation three years ago, were demonstrably stronger than those of the current host.
Therefore, in an effort to rescue MSNBC from the ratings basement and to restore the honor and dignity of Mr. Donahue, who was ignobly removed as host three years ago, we ask that you immediately bring Phil Donahue’s show back at 8:00 PM EST before any more damage is done.
It is funny, how much longer they’ve put faith in Olbermann whose ratings just flat out suck. No amount of Olbermann spin can remove one simple fact. No one, except for Brian Stelter, who hangs with baited breath on every word that comes out of a MSNBC talking head.
Of course, he’s a liberal darling because he mindlessly bashes the right, which means he can hang around unencumbered.
At least Donohue had a point. Olbermann is just bitter at being a loser.
February 24th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
I think the link is broken, I used this one to get to the petition.
But anyway, this is actually pretty funny. I didn’t think O’Reilly had this type of humor in him. Olbermann was one of the funniest Sportscenter anchors of all time. He should have stayed there. Everyone can laugh at sports jokes.
I used to like O’Reilly because I enjoyed watching him get all worked up. It was comical to me. “Oh Bill, just calm down you big lug”, I’d say. I’ve since stopped watching any cable news.
February 24th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
You mean like conservatives Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin, and O’Reilly himself all do to the left with impunity?
I don’t watch Olbermann, so I don’t really know if he sucks or whatever, but isn’t it just like O’Reilly to try to get his competitor fired instead of engaging him substantively on the issues?
February 24th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
Engage Olbermann substantively on the issue?
The guy who called O’Reilly the worst human being on the planet? On TV?
And as for Limbaugh (18 million listeners) and O’Reilly (easily the top rated show on primetime cable news), they’re the highest rated in their respective fields. Hannity has a listening audience of 13-15 million people. Olbermann has 183,000, placing him a solid 3rd out of 3.
Coulter and Malkin aren’t TV hosts, however both of them are best-selling authors.
Olbermann is 3rd of 3.
That’s why Hannity, Limbaugh, and O’Reilly are not the same thing. If Olbermann had to answer for his ratings, and if he was doing anything but mindlessly bashing Bush and Fox & O’Reilly, he would’ve been off the air a year ago.
You’ll have to try a little harder next time you want to draw comparisons.
February 24th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Aww… poor Bill. He calls people “treasonous” and “un-American” all over mass media on a regular basis, but Olbermann is unreasonable for painting O’Reilly with his own brush?
Ah, I see I’ve misunderstood your point. I thought you were taking a stand against mindless politcal bashing, but you’re actually just taking a stand against mindless political bashing that is rated below the other mindless bashing. My bad.
February 24th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
Actually, we were talking about why they ditched Donohue for low ratings and kept Olbermann with even lower ratings.
You also said O’Reilly shouldn’t mindlessly bash Olbermann, but ignored the nasty shit Olbermann’s been slinging and O’Reilly’s mostly been ignoring.
Olbermann does nothing of substance on his show, thus his ratings. Yet somehow, MSNBC sees a need to keep him on board.
Why didn’t an industry veteran and talk icon like Donohue get that respect?
(Hint: It has to do with ideology, and how Olbermann is outrageously nasty and Donohue wasn’t a mindless basher of Bush. If that isn’t the reason, I’m open to explanations)
February 25th, 2006 at 12:47 am
Justis, he calls people’s ACTIONS treasonous and anti-American.
February 25th, 2006 at 1:06 am
I said no such thing. I merely said it was indicative of O’Reilly’s character to try to get Olbermann fired for dealing O’Reilly the same shit he deals out himself all the time. O’Reilly can bash Olbermann all he wants, but starting petitions to fire a rival — that’s the kind of assholery I’ve come to expect from O’Reilly.
To your point about MSNBC embracing Olbermann for his ideology, etc., I agree with you completely. Fox News, with its vitriolic talking heads and their obviously partisan rhetoric, gets good ratings. Maybe MSNBC is trying to reposition as the anti-Fox. Who knows? I had only two points in this conversation:
1. O’Reilly is a hypocritical gasbag.
2. Olbermann is no nastier or more openly partisan than that “fair and balanced” hack at Fox News who’s now trying to get him fired.
February 26th, 2006 at 10:48 pm
Justis, some examples please? For both #1 and #2.