Following up from my previous post, I think I have figured out why people don’t watch Morning Joe (he does rank 3rd amongst the 3 cable stations).
The most common demographic you are going to find during the early morning hours are people getting ready for work. They are on a limited time schedule and need to be able to absorb the most information possible. The can’t sit there and waste time hearing one person go on about a single issue over and over again, making you think the record is stuck.
Add to that the time of the year. People are doing more things outside, so their biggest chance of catching cable news is in the morning. They have limited watching time and want the most info, since they have the kids soccer game after work, or maybe cut the grass, or any number of outdoor activities this time of year is accustom for.
I got thinking about this while switching between CNN and MNSBC this morning. It turned into my own little “unofficial survey”. Here’s what I noticed. In one hour Morning Joe covered the same story nonstop – Pelosi and the CIA. During that same time CNN covered that story, but also the Rumsfeld memos, the decline of popularity of the GOP, teachers possibly abusing handicap children, and a few other topics.
Honestly I must say I felt so much more informed watching CNN than I did watching the Morning Joe “worry about only what I want” show.
I really hope someone from MSNBC notices this, considering they are my favorite network. I can’t handle the nonstop self promotion of CNN and FOX, well we can understand that one. MSNBC really needs to work on a better morning show. The people who don’t fit into my above demographic are more likely to leave a cable channel on whatever its on from their morning show, so MSNBC even loses out from those people. If they want to keep Scarborough, then fine, but put a leash on him. Tell him he needs to cover a broader spectrum of news than those stories he personally wants to project his outrage over.
And I am not just saying this to defend Pelosi. Anyone who has read this blogs knows I am not a big supporter of hers. Rather I am saying that there is plenty of other news out there. Hell we been having a tsunami of political news these last few weeks, but if you watch Morning Joe you think there is only one story. Even the ultra liberal Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow seems to be able to fit in a wider range of stories and they are only on for one hour – not three..