It's a 12-year low for Fox News ratings

By Richard K. Barry

Sometimes you write a blog post not so much because it's big news or it matters that much, but because it's so much fun to see the words appear on your computer screen. The words in this case are that Fox News' ratings have hit a 12-year low. 

Politico reports that:

Fox News had its worst ratings since 2001 in January, according to the latest figures. 

The network had a 12-year low in the coveted 25-54 demographic in primetime and fell to its lowest total day ratings since 2008, a press release from rival cable channel MSNBC stated on Tuesday. 

And January marked the worst month ever for Fox’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” among the 25-54 demo, as well as the channel’s lowest total viewership in the 10 p.m. hour since July 2008.

Maybe many of their usual viewers are simply too depressed to turn their televisions on now that the dreaded Kenyan socialist has won reelection. Or, is it possible the younger demographic is becoming that much less conservative? Who knows?

On the other end of the political spectrum, at least in US politics, MSNBC is doing better.

At note at MSNBC, the cable network saw its ratings go up 11 percent in the 25-54 demo compared to January 2012. And “The Rachel Maddow Show” topped CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” this month, and also ranked number one among the 18-34 demo.

Alas, everything is relative, and a plummeting of Fox News ratings does not mean that they are anything other than still in the lead:

Fox News, meanwhile, had nine of the 10 top programs in January — Maddow’s show was the only non-Fox News program to enter the top 10, in the last slot.

Still, they are moving in the wrong direction, and that's something.