This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.
The battle between CNN and Fox News isn't a question of liberals and conservatives. That debate was settled long ago and the conservatives won.
News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) makes a ton of money from Fox News, which continues to dominate. Its ratings have rebounded after slipping last year. CNN parent Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) launched Headline Prime in 2005 as a Fox without Bill O'Reilly, complete with rabid right-wing talk show hosts like Glenn Beck.
One night for fun, I decided to compare O'Reilly and Beck. Boy was I lucky. I picked a night to DVR their shows when both hosts were at the the top of their games.
On his program, Beck railed against all sorts of people bent on destroying the America, including filmmaker Michael Moore, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, comedian Rosie O'Donnell, and pop star Elton John.
Elton John? Rocket Man? I was shocked too.
Apparently, Sir Elton is the "high priest of hypocrisy," according to Beck. The singer had a 60th birthday party at St. John the Divine, a big church in New York. Seems John, who has little use for religion, made some changes to the church building for the concert, including removing the pews. To make matters worse, John showed a background of a burning church at his show the next day at Madison Square Garden. Oh yeah, that was on a Sunday.
All of this was too much for the talk show host to take.
"If he wants to drop a few million to desecrate your church than who am I to judge, right? Wrong!" he said of the pop star.
Beck may try to be O'Reilly, but there is only one patron saint of conservative talk shows. O'Reilly is in a league of his own. By the way, I have no sympathies for O'Reilly's critics who are outraged by his behavior toward guests who don't agree with him. They've obviously never watched his show.
Anyway, Papa Bear (Steven Colbert's nickname for him) was in a reflective mood on the night I watched the O'Reilly Factor. He brought in body language expert Tonya Reiman to review recent interviews to see if there was anything to the criticism that he was too "mean" to guests.
I am not making his up.
"You really let the anger linger on your face," she said.
"I don't have any problem letting people know I'm angry," O'Reilly replied.
Insightful, no?
In summary, I am declaring the victor in the battle of the brands between Fox and CNN to be Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE:VIA) Comedy Central. The fake news of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert is often more insightful than the real news on either network.
Be sure to vote in our poll for Fox News or CNN as your preferred brand, and lets us know why you love it in the comments. Results of all Battle of the Brands match-ups coming soon.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-18-2008 @ 10:00PM
terry said...
what is sad is that fox purveyors of fox slant do not realize that their attention span is equall to that of your average 3rd grader the ability to grasp new ideas is above their IQ. So they must listen to the lies of their false gods. and they will not say amen but ditto
4-16-2007 @ 3:32PM
Niclas said...
My parents can watch CNN international in Sweden (which is where they live) and one time my mother asked me why the only American TV channel she could get was the most anti-American station out there? And that included the Nordic, German, British and the French stations (my mom speaks all those languages). I thought about it for a while and must say she is 100% right. CNN’s motto seems to be “Everyone hates America so let’s please them and show them everything rotten abut this country – this will give us more ratings!” FoxNews on the other hand freely admits that there are lots of problems in America but that America itself is not THE problem. I really understand why CNN’s nickname is Communist News Network. Of course the “crazy” Turner connection to CNN doesn’t help. Neither does his former relationship with Treason-Fonda. America – the only country in the world where you can commit treason, NOT be executed for it and even make money of that despicable act.
4-16-2007 @ 3:35PM
RC said...
Tough call. None of the rant shows on Fox or Headline Prime qualifies as news, IMO.
Incidentally, when I compare Fox's legal-show host Greta van Susteren with Headline's hanging judge Nancy Grace, Greta comes off as the responsible, moderate one!
4-16-2007 @ 9:57PM
Iggy Misha said...
[[Seems John, who has little use for religion, made some changes to the church building for the concert, including removing the pews.]]
This article appears to be intrinsically untrustworthy, as there are no pews in St. John the Divine. The nave is a big open space, with free standing chairs which are moved and reconfigured all the time. This makes me doubt the rest of the "facts."
4-17-2007 @ 7:30AM
dave morris said...
But Fox isn't really a news outfit. It's the propaganda arm of the Bush administration. It was started by Republican operative Roger Ailes to give a right-wing slant to the news. At least CNN tries to play it straight. It's a pity CNN thinks it has to get down in the gutter with Fox for the sake of ratings.
4-17-2007 @ 9:25AM
Adam Smith said...
Ever wonder why Fox News gets such high ratings? Because you can't get through three article in places like this without coming across some nitwit liberal like Jonathan Berr writing something with the phrase "rabid right-wing talk show hosts." Think Mr. Berr has ever written something like "rabid left-wing talk show host Keith Olbermann"? Neither do I.
4-19-2007 @ 12:08PM
louisa Evans said...
Dave Morris needs to read post # 1.
5-03-2007 @ 11:22AM
Tim Orris said...
What is amazing is that Liberal AOL. sister to CNN actually realizes that more adult americans are turning to fox to get news without the far left slant. There may be hope yet for America, I think the Democratic politician are in for a surprize next election. They are depending on pollsters who only call people with listed land lines. The majority of those who list number and keep land lines are poor and unemployed.
Management type have gone to unlisted cell phones and e-mail,
6-01-2007 @ 4:28PM
Paul said...
Hey John,
First off, if you have cuevos, put your email address down so people can confront your obvious conservative bias. Conservatives have shown only one thing, that they sit and watch more TV, that is all. CNN is by far the more imparital of the two, and you should certainly note that, you right wing demagogue.
6-01-2007 @ 5:02PM
Joe said...
Liberals are bent on destroying America...if they can't have things their way. They're a lot like the terrorists in Iraq.
12-28-2007 @ 8:56AM
Tim said...
The only reason I watch Fox News Live is to see just how short the ladies wear their dresses and skirts. Every morning there's plenty of exposed meat. I think they have a contest going on to see who can show the most thighs. If their hubby's don't mind I don't either. As for the news, I watch CNN Headline. I don't have time for Fox opinions, just the news. I hear twice as many headline in thrity minutes of CNN that an hour of FOX. But the meat rack at FOX make me tune them in first.