The U.S. is a big country -- bigger than even cable TV

Each show attracts a dedicated, loyal audience of mostly conservative viewers, many of whom are Republicans. If Hannity came out one night and started a campaign that said, "Buying car/pick-up truck tires made in China is un-American and we should pass a law to stop it," no doubt, over time, many of his viewers would agree with him.

But as I point out to the students, on Hannity's best night -- say seven million people watched one night -- he's only tapping a fraction of the American electorate, the number of voting age U.S. citizens. There were 227.7 million Americans age 18 and older as of July 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hence, Hannity's show, in our seven-million-viewer hypothetical example, would still only be reaching about 3% of those who could vote. Loyal viewers of Hannity could hold die-hard, impassioned stands on many important issues, and still not come close to achieving a numerical majority. True, it is possible that a majority of Americans could hold some of the same opinions as Hannity's viewers, but it's also possible that a majority could hold opinions diametrically opposed.

Here's another fact: About 30% of the nation would have little chance to view Hannity unless they were visiting a friend's house that had cable TV. In 2006, about 66% of U.S. households with televisions subscribed to cable TV, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

The above is not meant to understate the financial impact of Hannity's audience as its is a highly profitable audience size. Any magazine -- or any website or newsletter, for that matter -- would love to have four million or five million dedicated followers. And there's little doubt that Hannity's show has been a financial success for him personally and for Fox News' parent company, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS).

But know also that on any given night, another 220 million or so American adults are not watching.