Readers:

In the battle for TV ratings in the world of cable news in the USA, it seems
the Foxs news channel (thanks to the nationalism card) is winning.

The article below is reprinted/culled from the "MediaGuardian" web page.

Ebrima

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FOX NEWS CHALLENGES CNN's US RATINGS DOMINANCE

Jason Deans
Thursday March 27, 2003



The first Gulf war was the making of CNN but this time around its arch rival
Fox News may win the ratings battle.

Fox News has proved more popular than CNN over the first five days of the
Iraq war, according to US audience figures.

This will confound the expectations of many pundits, who thought CNN, with
its superior international newsgathering operation, would overturn the
ratings lead Fox News has enjoyed for the past year.

Fox News, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, has attracted
an average of 4 million viewers each day since the conflict began, rising to
5.6 million during evening prime time.

CNN's average has been 3.6 million, with 4.4 million tuning in during prime
time.

"I think it's a pretty big surprise," said Erik Sorenson, the president of
MSNBC, the third most popular news channel in the US with an average of 1.7
million viewers.

"People thought CNN would win, at least in [the] early stages [of the war].
One of the executives there said it would own the story and I don't think it
does," Mr Sorenson added.

However, CNN claims it has more viewers watching overall - its total reach
of 90 million viewers during the first five days of the war compares
favourably with 67 million for Fox News.

The reach figure is a measure of the cumulative total of viewers who watch a
channel, even if only for a few minutes, during any given period.

The higher reach figure suggests although more people are watching CNN, Fox
News viewers stay with the network for longer.

Fox News' success during the war so far suggests its rightwing, pro-war
stance may be more in tune than CNN with public opinion in the US, where a
majority back the war.

CNN takes a more traditional broadcast news approach, placing an emphasis on
objectively and balanced reporting in contrast to Fox News' more partisan
agenda.

The Murdoch-owned network's pro-war stance has plunged Fox News into
controvesy.

Last year the Fox News chairman, Roger Ailes, was criticised after it
emerged he sent President George Bush a note immediately after the September
11 attacks offering him advice.

Mr Ailes, a former Republican strategist, urged President Bush to take a
tough stance against terrorism.

Fox News' dramatic news presentation - which comes with terror alert updates
and an American flag in the corner of the screen - is striking a chord with
the American public.

The AOL Time Warner-owned news channel is considered to have a more liberal
voice.

Fox News' coverage tends to be more uplifting, emphasising the positive and
trying to raise morale, according to Robert Thompson, professor of media and
popular culture at Syracuse university.

"The Fox view is a useful one to have out there. It's not as if they are
hiding it or pretending it's not there," Mr Thompson told Associated Press.

It is also extremely aggressive in chasing ratings. Last year Fox News took
the unusual step of sending former daytime host Geraldo Rivera to cover the
search for Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora, Afghanistan.

Audience figures have rocketed for all three leading US news channels since
the war began.

Fox News' audience was up by 379% compared with the same week last year,
while CNN has enjoyed a 393% ratings boost and MSNBC is up by 651%.



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