On Sunday’s Reliable Sources, CNN charlatan Brian Stelter and longtime liberal media defender Bill Carter went to bay for the far-left tilt of network comedy shows while attacking right-leaning comedy as one of radicalization and vindictiveness.
In reality, the ratings have shown otherwise with FNC’s Gutfeld! fetching monster ratings that rivaled those on the broadcast networks while, speaking of new shows, CNN’s rebooted New Day has been flailing under poor ratings and spending its days treating conservatives like enemies of the people.
On top of that, the pair defended the leftist tilt of late-night shows in the Trump era because they saw Trump as a meany and insisted that Biden has still been subjected to ridicule like other past presidents.
Stelter concluded the latest promotional segment for the Carter-inspired CNN miniseries History of Late Night by insisting there’s still “some humor to be had” with Biden despite the fact that “humor is so polarized.”
Of course, Stelter didn’t blame it on consistently vile takes from the likes of Samantha Bee, Stephen Colbert, or Jimmy Kimmel to name a few. As usual, Stelter blamed Fox News for what ails America.
“Fox News trying to launch a late-night comedy show, trying to compete with Colbert and Kimmel. How's it going,” wondered Stelter.
Carter replied with disgust, saying the longtime FNC personality’s show “what I expected, which is that it's not really about comedy or satire, it's about revenge” and “tell[ing] jokes that get [viewers] riled up and they're not being entertained, they're being incited.”
If Gutfeld’s stinging monologues are incitement, what would you describe the hypocritical and juvenile nature of so-called journalists at CNN like Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon?
Carter continued this tiresome drivel of attacking Fox while sticking up for the anti-Trump tilt of comedy shows that was so steep it’d rival election returns during Saddam Hussein’s reign in Iraq (click “expand”):
CARTER: Instead of kind of laughing. It's all based on we're going to get back at you for attacking Donald Trump and I want to say the thing — the difference with Trump really is that Trump was a farcical administration. There was farcical things going on every day from drinking bleach to altering maps of hurricanes, to throwing paper towels, and God knows what else and so, the comedians really went after him for that. But also, they felt like he was menacing. I mean, Desus — Desus and Mero said something to me the other day saying he thinks he was hurting people, and that made them wear their opinions on their sleeves about him, which I don't expect them to do about Biden. I really — I think that will be the big difference.
STELTER: Right, that is the big change.
This won’t come as a shock to NewsBusters readers, but Gutfeld! has actually been doing quite well.
From its April 5 launch through April 27, Nielsen Media Research showed Gutfeld had drawn an average viewership of 1.791 million total viewers, which edged out ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1.779 million) and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (1.696 million) while trailing the Resistance paradise of CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2.448 million).
Better yet, Gutfeld! comfortably defeated Comedy Central’s Daily Show, CBS’s Late Late Show, NBC’s Late Night and Little Late, HBO’s Last Week Tonight and Real Time, and TBS’s Conan and Full Frontal in total viewers in total viewers and in the 25-54 demo (with the exception of HBO’s two entries).
And as for his competition on CNN and MSNBC, Gutfeld has cleaned up with his total viewership and 25-54 draw (348,000 viewers) light years ahead of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon (713,000 total viewers and 224,000 in the demo) and The 11th Hour with Brian Williams (1.374 million total and 209,000 in demo).
In contrast, CNN’s decision to relaunch left-wing New Day with new co-host Brianna Keilar has been a ratings disaster. Along with its further tilt to the left, New Day fell 13 percent over its first two weeks in both total viewers and the 25-54 demographic.
New Day had already long established itself as the least-watched show on CNN, FNC, or MSNBC, but it furthered solidified its grip on last place with a 25 percent decrease in total viewers and 24 percent decline in 25-54 from 2020.
So while New Day and CNN are busy trying to get their viewers to be at the throats of people outside their political bubble, Gutfeld’s alternative has continued to thrive. Before too long, Stelter and friends will be calling for advertiser boycotts out of jealousy. And when it does happen, we’ll be there to cover it for you.
Stelter’s latest segment trashing Fox News was made possible thanks to supportive advertisers such as Allstate, Olay, and Qunol. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant CNN transcript form May 2, click “expand.”
CNN’s Reliable Sources
May 2, 2021
11:54 a.m. EasternBRIAN STELTER: Hey, so, there is — there is some humor to be had. At the same time, Bill, humor is so polarized. Fox News trying to launch a late-night comedy show, trying to compete with Colbert and Kimmel. How's it going?
CARTER: Well, you know, the Gutfeld show is what I expected, which is that it's not really about comedy or satire, it's about revenge. [LAUGHS] The idea is to tell jokes that get them riled up and they're not being entertained, they're being incited and the idea is for them to say, yes, that'll show him. Instead of kind of laughing. It's all based on we're going to get back at you for attacking Donald Trump and I want to say the thing — the difference with Trump really is that Trump was a farcical administration. There was farcical things going on every day from drinking bleach to altering maps of hurricanes, to throwing paper towels, and God knows what else and so, the comedians really went after him for that. But also, they felt like he was menacing. I mean, Desus — Desus and Mero said something to me the other day saying he thinks he was hurting people, and that made them wear their opinions on their sleeves about him, which I don't expect them to do about Biden. I really — I think that will be the big difference.
STELTER: Right, that is the big change.
