Sometimes we think that politics dominates everything. It's important to keep in mind that this is simply not true. It's in the political class's interests to make you think this is true, but it really isn't. Only a tiny fraction of America cares about politics. Here is some proof
Think everyone watches the news? Check out these viewer numbers:
The left claims Obama sold 4.6 million copies of his two books (2.3 million each). They claim Hillary sold 1.5 million. The same source credits Palin with 1.45 million. I doubt these numbers as Obama's best sales week (the first) was only 185,000. But either way, let's take that as true. That's huge right? Actually, it means that 1.4% of the pubic bought one of Obama's books. 98% did not!
Also, by comparison, Harry Potter sold 160 million in the United States -- 35 times Obama's sales. Stephen King has sold 350 million books, or nearly 70 times what Obama sold.
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... is more famous than all but a handful of politicians. What does that tell you about the influence of politics on the public? Don't judge America by our political class!
Think everyone watches the news? Check out these viewer numbers:
8.8 million ABC World News TonightThat works out to only 9.8% of the public... less than 1 in 10. By comparison, 44 million people watched each NFL conference championship game. That's 27% of the public. Even weekly games averaged 25 million per game. The re-launch of Rosanne brought in 18 million people. Politics just isn't that important to most people.
7.9 million NBC Nightly News
6.7 million CBS Evening News
3.42 million MSNBC
2.6 million Fox
1.11 million CNN
1.1 million Telemundo
Total: 31.63 million
The left claims Obama sold 4.6 million copies of his two books (2.3 million each). They claim Hillary sold 1.5 million. The same source credits Palin with 1.45 million. I doubt these numbers as Obama's best sales week (the first) was only 185,000. But either way, let's take that as true. That's huge right? Actually, it means that 1.4% of the pubic bought one of Obama's books. 98% did not!
Also, by comparison, Harry Potter sold 160 million in the United States -- 35 times Obama's sales. Stephen King has sold 350 million books, or nearly 70 times what Obama sold.
This guy =>
To be fair, Andrew, the "Aliens!" guy is the only guy who actually knows the truth about our political class.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the overall point that for the overwhelming majority politics is a low priority thing little attention is paid to. However it is worth noting that part of the reason broadcast news viewship is low is that it’s the lowest and least important part of the news cycle.
ReplyDeleteThe stuff people want to hear/know passes to them through a variety of channels (including social media and office gossip).
I just had a thought as ti CNN - How much of their viewership comes from the constant airing of CNN in national airports 24/7/365? If they shutdown all of the tv monitors in all of the airports for one week or just changed the channel, do you think that they would still get the same numbers??
ReplyDeleteBev, I can't say for sure, but to the best of my knowledge and reasoning, the way TV ratings are counted doesn't include TVs in public spaces. Neilen still relies primarily on diaries and set meters. (They also track streaming services like Netflix, but the mechanism there is totally different.) So, unless they've put set meters in airports, they wouldn't capture those TVs. And if they did put set meters in airports, someone would've broken that story by now.
ReplyDeleteTryanmax - That makes sense. I just want CNN removed from public places. Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing now? Getting journalist and any news organizations that we find "offensive" banned public view? I guess if I were to throw something at the airport gate TV monitor, they may not let me board, huh?
ReplyDeleteAncient Aliens (TV series) puts out a lot more facts than CNN, and they're more entertaining, but not by much.
ReplyDeleteHey Everyone! I am back. I'm burnt to a crisp, but suuuuper relaxed. :) I hope you all had a great week!
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