Yup, when a boycott goes wrong--when it backlashes--should we call it a "boylash"? And when a boycott against Glenn Beck goes wrong, we should call it a "Beckcott." Or better yet, a "Becklash." Three million viewers--and nearly a million viewers in the demo--is dyn-o-mite at any time, and especially at 5 pm eastern. It would appear that Glenn Beck has parlayed his controversy into ratings gold. A Becklash.
TV by the Numbers is not really a Cable Gaming site. I mean, it's a great site, making everyone a ratings expert, but TVBTN's scope is much broader than cable news--it's all of TV. (To me, cable news--The Cable Game--is plenty, but you knew that.) So TVBTN''s comment--specifically, the comment of Robert Seidman--is noteworthy:
Though a little scandal might alienate advertisers, it’s pure ratings gold. Last night Glenn Beck had over 3 million viewers at 5pm, second only to O’Reilly for the night. But, Beck had more 25-54 viewers than O’Reilly (888K to 876K). I don’t watch or really even care about the cable news wars, but still…wow. Even though Beck airs before primetime, when there are fewer people watching TV, he had the most 25-54 viewers in the cable news world for the night.
That's a great one-word sum-up of the situation: "wow." The left thought that it had a chance to squash Glenn, and maybe put a hole in Fox News. Instead, new people are tuning into Beck, to see what all the fuss is about. And they seem to be staying.
BTW, the best place to stay on top of the "Becklash" is the website, "Fight For Glenn," which features a sign-up for those who want to raise the voice, and sign their name. The site keeps evolving--new features all the time. Worth bookmarking!
PS: Thanks to Jim Hubbell for a much-improved photo-illustration of Glenn in fighting form. That's Glenn above, much overshadowing everyone else in Cable Gameville.
