There is another ratings victory for Fox News Channel, which marks its 18th consecutive week as the No. 1 network across the entire cable TV realm besting such non-news rivals as HGTV or TNT, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Fox News programs also made up 21 of the top 40 cable telecasts in total viewers with “Hannity,” “The Ingraham Angle,” “Special Report with Bret Baier,” “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “The Five” making up four of the top 10 prime time cable telecasts. Fox News has been the top-rated news channel for the last 16 years.
Some significant news for prime time host Laura Ingraham, who has outpaced MSNBC’s flagship host Rachel Maddow for the first time among the all-important 25 to 54 year-old viewer range. Ms. Ingraham garnered 2.8 million total viewers and 556,000 in the age-related demographic, while Ms. Maddow averaged 2.5 million total viewers and 506,000 in the separate demographic. In the media world, this is a big deal.
Fox Business Network, meanwhile, continues to best rival CNBC during business day and “market hours” viewers according to Nielsen. In addition, “Lou Dobbs Tonight” is the most watched news program on business TV programming while “Varney & Company” is now marking 51 consecutive weeks as the most-watched market program on TV.
EMERGING TRUMP APPEAL SHAPES THE POLLS
America is beginning to wake up to a political paradox: Despite unprecedented hostile media coverage, President Trump’s favorability ratings are percolating upward as the public takes in positive developments that many news organizations have either downplayed, neutralized or ignored all together. Mr. Trump certainly sees it.
“Can you believe that with all of the made up, unsourced stories I get from the Fake News Media, together with the $10,000,000 Russian Witch Hunt (there is no Collusion), I now have my best Poll Numbers in a year. Much of the Media may be corrupt, but the People truly get it!” the president tweeted Tuesday, complete with his typical creative use of punctuation.
Yes, the “people” get it.
Gallup, for example, reveals that the approval rating of Congress is 17 percent, while Mr. Trump’s is more than twice that at 43 percent. This phenomenon is also happening the Granite State, an important political barometer. The New Hampshire Institute of Politics has offered muted but definitive proof that Mr. Trump’s increasing favorability is “a broad shift,” not just a hiccup....
“The Saint Anselm College Survey Center shows New Hampshire voters’ strong disapproval in winter softened from 58 percent to 41 percent. Of course, trends are identified over time so we won’t know the answer until we see subsequent polls. However, there is some evidence to suggest that President Trump may be finding some resonance with New Hampshire voters,” writes Neil Levesque, executive director of the non-partisan institute.“What may be the key to understanding Trump’s improvement as a blip or trend