Big 3 Nets' Evening News Election and Pre-Election Week Audiences Down Nearly 20% From 2006

November 12th, 2010 10:11 PM

Along with the cheerful news that Fox News trounced its cable news competitors on Election Night (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), those longing for more fairness and balance in television news coverage can take some comfort in the fact that the Big Three Networks' evening news shows came in with audiences almost 20% lower during the week before and the week of the 2010 midterm elections compared to the same two weeks in 2006.

As seen below, NBC took the smallest hit of the three networks, losing an average of "only" 1.2 million viewers in the two comparative weeks involved. ABC got hit harder, while CBS lost nearly 3 in 10 viewers (Sources: MediaBistro -- Nov. 1, 2010; Oct. 25, 2010; Nov. 6, 2006; Oct. 30, 2006):

EveningNews2010vs2006midterms

Combine the above with the news of Fox's 2006-2010 improvement, CNN's serious decline, and MSNBC a stable but still-distant third, and it's clear that viewers continue to move towards fair and balanced coverage.

Faster, please.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.