Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 12:48 am
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Over 10 million people watched the Fox News coverage of the 2012 election, but when President Obama spoke, more than 80% of them tuned out.
The ratings for election Fox News election night coverage show that the right is still far from putting America first. From the 11 PM-12 AM hour Fox News had 10.1 million total viewers. After the election was called for President Obama, only 4.4 million viewers stuck around to watch Romney’s concession speech. By the time President Obama delivered his acceptance speech, only 2.2 million Fox News viewers watched.
Even though it was getting late on the East Coast, the same drop off did not occur on the other cable networks. CNN has the most viewers from 11 PM-12 AM, with 10.79 million. Nearly 9 million of them (8.97 million) watched Romney’s concession speech, and 7.8 million of them watched President Obama’s late night acceptance speech. Over on MSNBC, the network went from 5.5 million total viewers between 11 PM-12 AM to 4.52 million viewers when Romney conceded, and the same number of viewers watched President Obama (4.52 million).
The fact that 100% of MSNBC’s audience and 80% of CNN audience watched President Obama, while 80% of the Fox News audience switched away speaks volumes not only about who these Fox News viewers are, but also their unwillingness to listen to the President’s message.
They aren’t interested in hearing anything that this president has to say. They weren’t interested in what Mitt Romney had to say. For them, this election was all about beating Barack Obama. They didn’t care about Mitt Romney. There was no sudden love for Romney as many in right wing media wanted to believe as the campaign was winding down. Romney lost, so over half of the Fox News audience tossed him in the trash, probably turned off the TV, and went to bed.
Republicans aren’t ready to take any lessons away from this election. Those who will be trying to move the GOP more to the center face a nearly impossible task. If the sudden abandonment of Fox News after Romney lost is any indication, the right is not going to be open to any kind of change that doesn’t involve a bigger shift to the right.
The vast majority of Fox News viewers don’t change the channel to other cable networks. They are taught that Fox News is the one source of truth on television. The majority of these viewers disengaged as soon as Obama won. For them, it was over. They weren’t getting their country back, and they still hate this president.
Judging from their choices on election night, Fox News viewers aren’t just sore losers.
They are ugly Americans.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
