OK, here's the
Top Ten Cable TV Programs for the week of 8/16/04-8/22/04 (there are more than ten because of ties):
Program Network Rating Total Viewers
Nextel Cup/Michigan TNT 3.9 6,167,000
Monk USA 3.8 5,875,000
NFL Pre-Season Football ESPN 2.7 4,123,000
WWE Raw Zone SPIKE 2.7 3,850,000
WWE Raw SPIKE 2.7 3,784,000
Fairly Odd Parents NICK 2.4 3,547,000
SpongeBob NICK 2.4 3,236,000
Law And Order TNT 2.4 3,291,000
Futurama TOON 2.3 3,221,000
Futurama TOON 2.3 3,277,000
Fairly Odd Parents NICK 2.3 3,220,000
Family Guy TOON 2.3 3,126,000
Nip Tuck (Rose & Raven) FX 2.3 3,453,000
Law And Order: SVU USA 2.3 3,239,000
Now, compare that to the
Top Ten Cable News TV Programs for August 19, 2004 (Total viewers rounded):
FOXNEWS HANNITY/COLMES 1.6 1,734,400
FOXNEWS O'REILLY 1.6 1,734,400
FOXNEWS SHEP SMITH 1.3 1,409,200
FOXNEWS GRETA 1.2 1,300,800
FOXNEWS BRIT HUME 1.2 1,300,800
CNN LARRY KING 0.9 975,600
MSNBC HARDBALL 0.8 867,200
CNN PAULA ZAHN 0.6 650,400
CNN AARON BROWN 0.5 542,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 0.5 542,000
MSNBC NORVILLE 0.4 433,600
MSNBC SCARBOROUGH 0.4 433,600
CNBC DENNIS MILLER 0.1 108,400
CNBC MCENROE 0.1 108,400
I know this has been talked about before, but my question is, why the hell should anyone pay attention to these goofy talking heads when they get creamed by SpongeBob every week? Why are they allowed to set the terms of any sort of debate when, at best, they're the fringe of the fringe?