The Myth of Fox News’ Ratings Spike

Commentary
by Eric Boehlert

Fact: The breathless claim that Fox News’ ratings recently spiked thanks to the White House’s public critique is bogus hype — hype that Fox News and the Beltway press have relentlessly pushed.

It’s just not true.

No matter how many times reporters and pundits made the claim, a detailed analysis of Nielsen ratings numbers clearly indicates that in the two weeks after the White House in mid-October sparked a media controversy…