The MSNBC president made some interesting remarks at the Television Critics Association press tour:
BEVERLY HILLS – MSNBC president Phil Griffin has his sights set on Fox News. Griffin opened the network’s presentation at the Television Critics Association press tour here by noting that this year, MSNBC has surpassed perennial cable news leader Fox News in the ratings in multiple hours. The previous year, MSNBC did it once.
“It just gives you an indication of where we’re going,” said Griffin. “For the first time we’re beginning to chip away at Fox News Channel.”
Executives at the News Corp-owned network would probably quibble with the “chipping away” descriptor and Fox News is still the leader in a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. But MSNBC has clearly carved out a successful perch as a progressive alternative at a time when once-dominant CNN is still clinging to the middle ground.
Meanwhile, Drudge Report has posted the cable news ratings from August 1st:
CABLE NEWS RACE
MON., AUG 1
FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,178,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,196,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,127,000
FOXNEWS SMITH 2,085,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 1,817,000
MNSBC O'DONNELL 1,138,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 1,026,000
CNN MORGAN 859,000
CNN COOPER 851,000
MSNBC MADDOW 832,000
MSNBC SHARPTON 699,000
CNNHN GRACE 663,000
When none of your channel’s programs place in the top five, and when its highest rated show still lags behind the competition by over two million viewers, does that really even qualify as “chipping away?”