Most networks typically experience some kind of ratings drop following a presidential election cycle, as people take a breath to relax after intense, wall-to-wall political coverage.
Not so much, however, at Fox.
Fox News is absolutely crushing its competition in the ratings race, according to Neilson Research, and is the only network currently enjoying higher ratings than before the election.
Close to one month after the election, Fox is averaging 2.9 million views in primetime. That is more than triple the amount of views of competitors CNN and MSNBC. CNN is bringing in 960,000 viewers, and MSNBC is averaging 959,000 viewers.
In the 25-54 year-old demographic, an indicator that advertisers look for most, Fox is also beating the two competitors combined. Fox is bringing in 1.82 million viewers, while CNN and MSNBC are only bringing in 765,000 and 559,000 respectfully.
21st Century CEO James Murdoch said in an interview that he attributes the success of Fox News to simply being a better news product.
“The goal for anyone in the news business is to make sure that you’re presenting the news, breaking news,” Murdoch said. “But also providing different perspectives, consistently putting the best product on the air and investing in that product and that’s something we’ll continue to do.”
Media bias was often a big issue in the 2016 presidential election, with then-candidate Donald Trump often calling the media “dishonest” and using it to fire up his supporters.
Polls both during and after the election showed that the majority of Americans did believe the media was showing a bias and couldn’t be trusted fully.
One Gallup poll showed that only 32 percent of Americans trusted the media to cover the news fairly and accurately. A Quinnipiac poll said that 55 percent of voters felt the media was showing a clear bias against Trump, while a Suffolk/USA Today poll showed that just under 76 percent of voters thought the media wanted Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton to win the election.
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