News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox News Channel (FNC) has admitted defeat in the field of political satire. That's because, according to MediaBistro, it will shut down its short-lived attempt to satirize Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA) Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
The TV news satire show which airs Sunday nights, first aired February 18 with more than 1.4 million viewers. But it has fallen back to an average of 258,000 viewers in its last 10 airings -- while still leading its time slot in every airing except one. FNC will air the final show September 16.
What happened? I don't really know why FNC is canceling the show if it was so successful. And since I've only seen a few clips, I can say that I found those clips to be unfunny. I think Stewart and Colbert satirize what passes for "fair and balanced" reporting on FNC.
And I think it would be pretty hard for any media outlet to do a good job of both creating the object of satire and to make viewers laugh at a satire of the satire of that object.
Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in News Corp. or Viacom.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-16-2007 @ 6:01PM
Jeff said...
Cue Ann Coulter from the show "If you don't (watch the show) we'll invade your countries, kill your leaders, and convert you to Christianity."
LOL - Hilarious. (Sarcasm).... Too bad the 1/2 Hour News Hour doesn't know the meaning of it.
8-19-2007 @ 11:56PM
Mike said...
The 258,000 actually refers to demo numbers (25-54 numbers). You quoted a Total 1.4mill, so in comparison to average total the numbers are actually above the 800,000's (give credit where credit's due)
By everyone's admission the show did very well in the ratings, but, according to Joel Surnow (via Brian Stelter), the show was too expensive to produce by Fox News standards, which makes sense when you SCRIPT THE WHOLE SHOW! Actors are expensive.
9-12-2007 @ 6:18PM
Tim Harris said...
Uhm. Yea. The show was successful yet you quote no source. Interesting indeed.
http://www.freudsfinger.com