Following a series of scandals and the surprise firings of popular host Bill O’Reilly, many loyal viewers announced they would boycott Fox News.
Now that the first ratings returns have come in, the effects are clear — things are not well at Fox News.
Reports revealed that the Murdoch family, who own the station, had a desire to make major changes. Opting to move away from the traditional values that earned the network it’s original success, the Murdoch’s are reportedly panicked that their makeover isn’t going as planned.
Following O’Reilly’s ouster, many fans announced their plan to get their news elsewhere, a threat the Murdoch’s didn’t take seriously.
But now that the latest ratings out in, executives at the media giant should be shaking.
Once having a secure spot at the top of the ranking board, Fox News’ has recently dropped, specifically in the prime time slot, or “demo” where O’Reilly once hosted, The Blaze reported.
For the past week, Fox News has been outranked by MSNBC in an unusual turn of events, CNN Money reported.
And while Fox still remains number one in total viewers, the coveted prime time slot is quickly slipping from their trophy shelf.
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow’s ratings are creeping up on Fox News’, with her show ranking as the top-rated cable news show overall last Tuesday.
According to Bill O’Reilly, the reason for Fox’s fall is obvious.
Since his departure from Fox, O’Reilly joined Glenn Beck on “The Glenn Beck Program” and said there’s “no doubt” that “Fox News has a problem.”
“They didn’t have to make those decisions, and they really didn’t have a plan,” O’Reilly said about his previous employer. “You know when you take a guy like me out of the lineup, and I’m doing 5,6 million views a night, you better have a plan to replace that.”
While Tucker Carlson has done an admirable job filling O’Reilly’s shoes, unless the Murdoch’s can come up with a plan to win back previous viewers — and quickly — Rachel Maddow may takeover as the queen of prime time viewership.
— The Horn editorial team