OMG, Keith has almost caught Billo!

OK, this is just a drive by diary with a link and a little commentary, but it's good news.

We've been watching for a couple of years as Keith Olberman has gradually built his ratings up from scratch and Bill O'Reilly's huge ratings have slowly declined.

Well, the happy day when Keith actually passes Billo is right around the corner.  TVNewser reports the ratings from Monday October 2.  Billo had 389,000 viewers aged 25-54 in the 8:00 EDT hour.  Keith had 333,000 viewers in the same hour.  That's the age demo the advertisers care about.

I can't verify this, but I think 333,000 viewers in the demo is Keith's all time high.  I can't imagine that Keith has been closer to Billo than 56,000 viewers.

I'm looking forward to the day Keith actually passes Billo.  Billo's head will explode and Keith will dance on his grave.

The table is on the other side.  I hope the formatting sticks.

October 2 ratings:

25-54 demographic: (LS)

Total day: FNC: 296 | CNN: 228 | MSNBC: 161 | HLN: 106 | CNBC: 44

Prime: FNC: 421 | CNN: 341 | MSNBC: 216 | HLN: 198 | CNBC: 50

      5p:     6p:     7p:     8p:     9p:     10p:     11p:
FNC     Gibson:     Hume:     Shep:     O'Reilly:     H&C:     Greta:     O'Reilly:
      306     400     442     389     415     457     308
CNN     Blitzer:     Dobbs:     Blitzer:     Zahn:     King:     Cooper:     Cooper:
      262     342     257     267     396     360     234
MSNBC     Matthews:     Tucker:     Matthews:     Countdo.:     Scarbo.:     Investig.:     Investig.:
      185     138     156     333     131     184     212
HLN     HLN:     Prime:     Beck:     Grace:     Beck:     Grace:     Showbiz:
      106/65     46     150     206     221     127     93

•  Tips anybody?

  Just 'cause.

  by Tod on Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 10:33:48 PM PDT

•  There is an interesting article over at

  Common Dreams about Keith.

  Is Olbermann on Thin Ice?

  It's written by Jeff Cohen, a senior producer for the Donohue show that MSNBC canned right before the Iraq war.

  by Karmafish on Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 10:51:48 PM PDT

  •  I just don't think so. Not this time.

    Thin ice is for the other side now. Geez, they're falling through
    it even as we post. Practically hourly.

    Cohen's article made some kind of sense--I get that. But there is a
    different & new momentum now than during Donohue's day.

    by begone on Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 11:04:57 PM PDT

    •  We definitely have momentum,

      but what will that mean to the owners of MSNBC and GE?

      If they're merely greedy, then you're right, Keith's fine, but if they're ideologues they may muzzle him.

      We'll see.

      by Karmafish on Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 11:18:52 PM PDT

      •  I'm hoping they'll go the way the wind

        is a'blowing. Never seen so many worms turn in the
        last few days as these last fews days. Admittedly, they're
        the suck-up, Kool-Aid-ian commentators. But never before
        (in some decades) have I seen the wind turn so quickly, in
        terms of the media.

        So now I'm hoping the biggie-wiggies just GET it and their
        personal "rules of business" have changed.

        I'm being optimistic right now

        by begone on Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 11:34:37 PM PDT

      •  If they were idealogues...

        ...KO woulda been canned after his scathing rebuke of Rumsfeld weeks ago.

        The CEO types at GE are just garden variety meta-capitalists. Keith's safe for now...

        by Flirtin with Disaster on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 12:11:48 AM PDT

•  While this is good news...

  ...keep in mind that it is for a single day. And it happens to be the first day since the Foley affair, so Keith's audience could be expected to grow.

  We should have numbers for the month of September that include comparisons to September 05 later this week.

  by KingOneEye on Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 11:08:42 PM PDT

  •  Absolutely

    Of course Billo still has a big lead most of the time.

    BUT, there has to be a first day.  Of course the first day will be something like this.  There were days like this a year ago, and they weren't this close.  That's progress.

    by Tod on Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 11:15:57 PM PDT

•  I'm glad Abrams has had the balls to keep KO on.

  by Intercaust on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 12:40:37 AM PDT

  •  Not balls, perhaps

    Maybe better business sense.

    I've never understood why ALL of the cable outlets were chasing the same f'ugly part of the viewing market -- CNN and MSNBC copying POX News made absolutely no sense.

    If in 2000, roughly 50% of the voters were 'wingers and the rest weren't, there's an equally large market that wasn't being served.  It could belong to the outlet that went contrarian to the other two outlets.

    Stupid that it's taking them this long to come around and see that the market is there, just needed support, maybe the right personality in the right format with better production.

    by Rayne on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 06:32:23 AM PDT

•  I've been watching KO for years

  and telling my friends to watch.  Some have and others didn't stick around to get comfortable with the format.  Now, I hear from them all and outside of J. Stewart, his show must be the most tivo'd show around.

  Although I think his "Worst Person In The World" is his weakest segment, I bought and pimped the book because it was a way to show my support for the show.  I keep it in the car and bring it out when I have to wait here or there for something.

  If I had one wish it would be that he could use his outstanding skills for a weekly column ala Frank Rich.  In my mind he brings the very best of clear writing and heartfelt delivery.

  Bravo Keith!

  by craigb on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 01:39:41 AM PDT

•  It is excellent news

  although O'Reilly still more than doubles KO's total viewership.

  Still, KO beats both Zahn and Grace soundly, and is MSNBC's highest-rated show.  

  Go Keith!  

  by bosdcla14 on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 01:45:13 AM PDT

•  Note that BillO's viewership drops...

  ... below Shep's, and then Hannity's rises again.

  BillO is on his way out.

  MSNBC needs to find a worthy follow-on show for Olbermann.  Maybe bring back Donahue, but don't tie his hands this time.

  by tbetz on Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 05:13:16 AM PDT