Media boycotts tend to work unless
they are politically motivated, but even then they can be short lived. Take for
example the infinitely popular Seinfeld show. Ratings dropped after
Michael Richardson's
infamous racist rant, but came back. Still, you can't boycott a product you
don't buy anyhow, and that is why the boycott of political commentary shows
like Glenn Beck's show on the Fox News Channel just do not work. Political
progressives are currently pushing for a boycott of that show, but they are not
watching that show anyhow so their boycott is irrelevant.
That is the reason the progressives are now
targeting the advertisers. Angie Coiro is a
progressive talk show host in San Francisco who has been talking and
twittering about and even pushing
a boycott of advertisers of the Glenn Beck show. Boycott Watch President Fred
Taub notes he has been on that show as a guest twice, and says Angie Coiro and
her staff are outstanding.
Boycotting the
advertisers is aimed at silencing the messenger, not challenging the message.
In this case the boycotters want to get the Glenn Beck Show off the air but are
not challenging his opinions. The Glenn Beck show has astoundingly good ratings
and that is what keeps the show in the air. Despite claims by the boycotters to
have got fifty or more advertisers to drop their ads on the Glenn Beck Show,
the fact is advertisers are attracted to the market reach value, and the
greater the audience, the lower the cost per viewer reach an advertiser can
expect, and that makes hit shows like Beck's bargains for advertisers. The
larger the show, the easier it is to line up advertisers, and there are
thousands of businesses which would love to be able to advertise on that show
which is why boycotts of that show are useless.
In
fact, Glenn Beck's rating have been rising with the boycott, which probably
means people are tuning in to find out what the fuss is all about, bringing in
more viewers and consequently making advertising on the Glenn Beck Show even
more attractive for advertisers. That would not be a first. Joe Scarborough got
a ratings boost after political progressives complained that he was drinking
Starbucks coffee on his MSNBC show when it was renamed to "Morning Joe" after
the Starbucks sponsorship.
Fred Taub, Boycott Watch
of Boycott Watch, was recently interviews for an article about media boycotts
for a major magazine, leaving the name out until after the article is
published, and said that media boycotts do not work because television is all
about the ratings. The reporter asked about the boycott call after Rush
Limbaugh was announced as a commentator for the NFL's Monday Night Football,
including why the NFL dropped Limbaugh as a result of the secondary boycott
calls. Fred Taub said that dropping Rush Limbaugh was a mistake by the NFL
since people are not going to stop watching football, especially their favorite
team, just because Rush Limbaugh is commenting. In fact, having someone like
Rush Limbaugh can only bring in more viewers since he can attract his own fan
base plus detractors who are looking to create controversy.
In the case of the Glenn Beck boycott, this is just
another case of blaming the messenger, regardless of the message. "This is
another case of a boycott by political progressives to shut down free speech
they do not agree with. It started with the boycott businesses owned by those
who were against gay marriage in California, but these are not boycotts - they
are intimidation to silence free speech" said Fred Taub, President of Boycott
Watch. "There are people who just want to silence their opposition just like
Stahlin did. If people do not like the message, they should challenge the
message and respect the person saying it. This great nation was built on
respecting the free speech of others, not silencing opposition. If people want
to boycott a product, then they should boycott the product, not play kill the
messenger." |
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