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Harris Faulkner
Back in 2018, Harris Faulkner appeared on The View, where she challenged the hosts and the media in general over minimizing her success at Fox, and the relative diversity of competitor networks.
In 2020, it's hard to write off or minimize the Fox News anchor's ratings prowess in the 1:00 p.m. slot.
Aside from regularly trouncing the competition from CNN and MSNBC in the total ratings category, Faulkner's Outnumbered: Overtime — dating back to last July — has been the No. 1 show in all of cable in both overall ratings and the advertiser-coveted adults 25-54 demographic.
What's more, Outnumbered: Overtime has been hitting well above its weight — with the show more than holding its own against broadcast network fare. For the past 30 weeks, Faulkner's show has topped ABC programming during the 1:00 p.m. hour.
For a while, Outnumbered: Overtime's success against ABC could be attributed to the latter's struggles at 1:00 p.m. Admittedly, ABC has had difficulty finding the right formula in that slot, as they have cycled through several different iterations of their third hour of GMA. Michael Strahan and Sara Haines have retooled their show a number of times — changing the name more than once and even adding a third co-host, Keke Palmer.
But in recent weeks, ABC has transitioned to a coronavirus-focused hour hosted by Amy Robach titled, Pandemic: What You Need to Know. And even against a straight news program with a respected host and a similar format, Faulkner's Outnumbered: Overtime has continued to prevail.
According to data from Nielsen, Outnumbered: Overtime posted 1.91 million total viewers from the week of May 4-May 8, while ABC drew 1.84 million during the 1 p.m. hour. That marked Faulkner's 30th consecutive week topping her ABC competition in the overall ratings.
With the pandemic ongoing and the election drawing closer, it wouldn't surprise us to see Harris Faulkner continue posting chart-topping numbers at 1 p.m. 6.5.0 |
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 | MEDIA LOSER:
Mark Steyn
Filling in for Rush Limbaugh on Monday, guest host Mark Steyn said that wearing masks in public and limiting public concerts show the United States is adopting a form of Sharia law during the pandemic response. He did not blame President Donald Trump, who is the president, for that trend.
Lockdowns and stay-at-home orders are being carefully lifted in much of the country, but very large gatherings are discouraged or banned in many places. People are also encouraged to wear masks to help reduce the spread of coronavirus. Some businesses are choosing to require masks for customers, which has angered certain types of shoppers. And, apparently, certain types of radio guest hosts. “You know the last time I was writing about societies banning music it was ISIS and the Taliban,” said Steyn. “I’m creeped out by the fact that we’re basically adopting ISIS/Taliban policies on music.” “They actually beheaded a bunch of musicians, I think it was on the Libyan coast, ISIS did, when they caught them with their cellos. Why are we adopting ISIS policies on music?” Steyn asked. He did not give any examples of Americans beheading cellists.
On masks, or "the face covering" as Steyn put it, he said that it's a "sign of Talibanic societies, ISIS societies."
He also said it's symbolic of the loss of free speech rights in the pandemic, without saying what that means, because it covers your mouth. The radio substitute host raving about how America is the Taliban thinks his free speech is curtailed, you see.
“It’s like some kind of Sharia-lite version that’s going on,” Steyn said. “In the end who cares whether the Taliban gets back in Afghanistan because we’ll look pretty much the same when this is all through.”
You really have to hear it to appreciate how the rant is at once both insidious and absurd. An exemplar of the genre. The end result of which is to reinforce the continuous Limbaugh conspiracy theory that this whole thing is a concoction of the evil media so they can get a Democrat in office. And, apparently, become the Taliban. 6.5.0 |
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| Hydroxychloroquinegate President Donald Trump has been taking hydroxychloroquine for the last week and a half and “feels fine,” he said in the White House Monday afternoon.
“I’ve taken it for one-and-a-half weeks now,” Trump said. “And I’m still here. I’m still here.”
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Manny Alvarez criticized the president's comments while speaking with Bret Baier calling it "highly irresponsible for the president to have come out and made that statement." Fox's Neil Cavuto was stunned.
Billionaire Trump-foil Mark Cuban was not impressed, either. Nor was cardiologist Dr. Eric Topol on CNN.
MSNBC’s John Heilemann said Trump is probably lying about taking it, anyway.
'Looking for a new outlet'
Neil Cavuto's reaction to Trump's hydroxychloroquine commentary set off another round of Fox-bashing on the president's Twitter timeline.
‘Morbidly obese’
Not to be left out of the scrum, Speaker Nancy Pelosi remarked in a spot on CNN that Trump's personal health is problematic in taking hydroxychloroquine. Because he is old and fat, she said. Or rather, "morbidly obese."
Dogs, dishes, and defending Pompeo
President Trump went on a quite a free-wheeling rant on Monday in defense of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the firing of State Department IG Steve Linick. Yes, including commentary on whether Pompeo's time is well spent washing dishes.
This morning on MSNBC, Joe Scaborough said "“Do you know, Mr. President, how stupid that sounds to the world?”
Another Fox ratings win
Fox News took the ratings title in daytime and a sleepy primetime on Friday, but its win streaks in the 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. time-slots were nearly broken after CNN came within a whisker of winning in the coveted 25 – 54 age demographic.
‘Turtle Fake News’
The Tampa Bay Times is issuing an apology after sending out a profane and kind of strange news alert. They dropped a bomb AND a turtle.
Culture blame
On The View Monday, Meghan McCain said that former President Barack Obama’s presidency helped to “usher in” the current culture war.
"The culture war that I believe is real and is raging in this country I believe was ushered in with his administration and then exacerbated in the Trump Administration," McCain said.
'I stand by my reporting’
The New Yorker‘s Ronan Farrow defended himself on Twitter Monday afternoon following a deep dive audit into his work from The New York Times’ media columnist Ben Smith yesterday. Following a lengthy thread, Farrow concluded, “I stand by my reporting.”
'I can not believe this is a real image’
The Washington Post got shredded on social media for an over-the-top, fawning profile of Democratic vice presidential hopeful Stacey Abrams.
'We need more people to resist' Fox News’ senior judicial analyst and former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano on Tuesday called for “more people to resist” their state coronavirus lockdowns, calling them “unlawful” and “unconstitutional.” 6.5.0 |
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| 'We all know exactly who he’s talking about' Late Night Roundup: Late show hosts Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Seth Meyers on Monday all addressed former President Barack Obama’s virtual commencement addresses over the weekend, including the swing he took at the Trump administration’s coronavirus response.
Granted, the late night hosts didn't have the defensive ire of some other TV hosts, but it was still a pretty good run.
Check out the clips here. |
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