This is a profound misunderstanding of the current media situation. Your misunderstanding is deeply flawed particularly in understanding the political power of Fox, in particular. The internet is clearly a major player, but television has more power than you understand.
Millenials have recently become a larger cohort than Baby Boomers, however, Millenials do not vote in the same numbers or hold the same political power as Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers are a pre-internet generation. Their primary media contact is still television. They trust it more than they trust the internet and they have developed a literally lifelong friendship with the boob tube.
I have to question what you could possibly know about television ratings to say that they are "massively inflated"? I would guess that is your own speculation. TV ratings have fallen and fallen and fallen. What is not in question is the importance of television to this country's most devoted voting population.
Fox's ratings are even more impressive when you consider that it is often the case that it is NOT the zombie tv network of choice--not the network that is the default news channel at airports and Planet Fitness. In fact, CNN is more likely to be chosen (due to false perceptions of bias). Also, televisions on Fox News at a gym do not have an effect on ratings/shares of viewership. Those are unreported, unmonitored devices.
You need to do some serious research The failure to understand the potency of legacy media in modern America gives you a very superficial understanding of how consensus and partisanship are mediated and constructed these days.
Your perspective is as bizarre as a person in a discussion about cars claiming that "everybody is buying Teslas and nobody wants a Ford". Ford sells four times as many vehicles as Tesla does, however Tesla--for various reason--is more alive in the public imagination. However, when it comes time to actually buy a vehicle, most Americans do NOT buy a Tesla.
Fox is a rarity. A kind of unicorn in this day and age of streaming and on-demand programming. Fox actually has developed television personalities who receive "appointment" viewers. I understand your contrary point, but it does not hold up to scrutiny. What you describe may or may not better reflect what Jon Stewart's Daily Show used to be: a kind of cherry on top for viewers who are as likely to take their cues from memes as from Comedy Central. Fox has a power that is exceedingly rare in today's media ecosphere.
Most Republicans trust it more than any other single news source. Older Americans (those who have the most political power due to their demographic's tendency to vote) are as devoted to Hannity and Carlson and Fox, in general, as they used to be to Rush. The station is a constant companion that is on throughout most of the day and they do follow specific personalities.
That is why Trump has feted and courted those personalities. That is why he has weighed in and called in and why he works to make and break specific individuals at the network. He knows that they are controlled opposition, but he has been able to play the whole thing like a harp.
He would not do so if Fox was politically negligible. Yes, Donald Trump reposts memes and works social media; but he knows that, among his most important demographic, legacy television media still holds the most sway.
To Millenials, and Zoomers--and exen Gen Xers--this is less true. And facebook has certainly aged into a haven for conservative Boomers. But Fox news is the last media space to host personalities with true impact.
Walter Cronkite was universally beloved. Fox is only 40% beloved. It is also 40% hated and distrusted. BUT in the new media landscape, to have 40% of the most critical voting demographic is incredible.
I take your point: for instance, Game of Thrones has been able to generate three BILLION dollars of revenue and to occupy the "top spot" in entertainment discourse for several years despite an audience that is only a fraction of the average weekly audience of Seinfeld. Times have changed. Legacy media are dinosaurs. True. But some of the dinosaurs are unwieldly Brontosaurs and some, like Fox, are T. Rexes. Fox, like GOT, delivers much with less.
How odd. You're under the impression that Fox is not watched? In a time when CNN and others are seeing viewership drop like rocks?
This seems like an odd hill to die on, but shrug
This is a profound misunderstanding of the current media situation. Your misunderstanding is deeply flawed particularly in understanding the political power of Fox, in particular. The internet is clearly a major player, but television has more power than you understand.
Millenials have recently become a larger cohort than Baby Boomers, however, Millenials do not vote in the same numbers or hold the same political power as Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers are a pre-internet generation. Their primary media contact is still television. They trust it more than they trust the internet and they have developed a literally lifelong friendship with the boob tube.
I have to question what you could possibly know about television ratings to say that they are "massively inflated"? I would guess that is your own speculation. TV ratings have fallen and fallen and fallen. What is not in question is the importance of television to this country's most devoted voting population.
Fox's ratings are even more impressive when you consider that it is often the case that it is NOT the zombie tv network of choice--not the network that is the default news channel at airports and Planet Fitness. In fact, CNN is more likely to be chosen (due to false perceptions of bias). Also, televisions on Fox News at a gym do not have an effect on ratings/shares of viewership. Those are unreported, unmonitored devices.
You need to do some serious research The failure to understand the potency of legacy media in modern America gives you a very superficial understanding of how consensus and partisanship are mediated and constructed these days.
Your perspective is as bizarre as a person in a discussion about cars claiming that "everybody is buying Teslas and nobody wants a Ford". Ford sells four times as many vehicles as Tesla does, however Tesla--for various reason--is more alive in the public imagination. However, when it comes time to actually buy a vehicle, most Americans do NOT buy a Tesla.
Fox is a rarity. A kind of unicorn in this day and age of streaming and on-demand programming. Fox actually has developed television personalities who receive "appointment" viewers. I understand your contrary point, but it does not hold up to scrutiny. What you describe may or may not better reflect what Jon Stewart's Daily Show used to be: a kind of cherry on top for viewers who are as likely to take their cues from memes as from Comedy Central. Fox has a power that is exceedingly rare in today's media ecosphere.
Most Republicans trust it more than any other single news source. Older Americans (those who have the most political power due to their demographic's tendency to vote) are as devoted to Hannity and Carlson and Fox, in general, as they used to be to Rush. The station is a constant companion that is on throughout most of the day and they do follow specific personalities.
That is why Trump has feted and courted those personalities. That is why he has weighed in and called in and why he works to make and break specific individuals at the network. He knows that they are controlled opposition, but he has been able to play the whole thing like a harp.
He would not do so if Fox was politically negligible. Yes, Donald Trump reposts memes and works social media; but he knows that, among his most important demographic, legacy television media still holds the most sway.
To Millenials, and Zoomers--and exen Gen Xers--this is less true. And facebook has certainly aged into a haven for conservative Boomers. But Fox news is the last media space to host personalities with true impact.
Walter Cronkite was universally beloved. Fox is only 40% beloved. It is also 40% hated and distrusted. BUT in the new media landscape, to have 40% of the most critical voting demographic is incredible.
I take your point: for instance, Game of Thrones has been able to generate three BILLION dollars of revenue and to occupy the "top spot" in entertainment discourse for several years despite an audience that is only a fraction of the average weekly audience of Seinfeld. Times have changed. Legacy media are dinosaurs. True. But some of the dinosaurs are unwieldly Brontosaurs and some, like Fox, are T. Rexes. Fox, like GOT, delivers much with less.