On cable news, it’s all shoutmanship

Fox News Channel’s not-so-subtle marketing slogan, “We report. You decide,” has helped frame the cable news tussle in political terms -- the assumption being that the channel’s “fair and balanced” claim is code for fire-breathing conservatives, while left-wingers gravitate to that bastion of the liberally biased media, CNN.

But maybe, just maybe, politics has little to do with it. Maybe Fox News’ secret ingredient isn’t so much ideology as attitude -- a network whose shouting heads and razzmatazz perfectly suit a media culture where news must be rouged up and ready for prime time in order to compete.

Fox’s ratings ascent, from this view, mirrors a pattern already visible in radio, where talk stations command greater loyalty -- and draw higher ratings -- than news outlets.

Not only does this have implications on how the ratings will play out should war occur but for the future of TV news in general, as new management assumes control at CNN and MSNBC clumsily seeks to redefine itself yet again, this time as Fox Jr.

All these channels (including CNN Headline News and CNBC) face the challenge of how to “make noise” when everyone in TV is screaming for attention, as witnessed by the “reality” wave sweeping across prime time. Yet Fox News, befitting a part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. empire, hits a certain decibel level as if it were a corporate birthright, in contrast to its rivals that have had to overcome first being perceived as boring, then trying too hard not to be.

Breaking down Nielsen ratings, the parallels to radio becomes clear. Fox News delivers significantly higher ratings than CNN, averaging 1.8 million viewers at any given moment in prime time during February to CNN’s 1.2 million, and almost 1.1 million over an average full day, versus CNN’s 730,000.

Still, a closer look shows that CNN actually attracts more “unique viewers” -- with 81 million people watching the channel at some point last month, as opposed to 62 million who viewed Fox News.

So why the higher rating? Because the people who watch Fox stay tuned a third longer -- on average 18 minutes in prime time to CNN’s 13.7 minutes, and 11 minutes for MSNBC.

On its face, having CNN’s wider audience would be a good thing, as opposed to reaching the same crowd again and again. But Paul Rittenberg, Fox News’ senior vice president of ad sales, insists there is bottom-line value in the channel’s “loyal, committed, targeted audience,” saying that the network’s pitch to media buyers is “Wouldn’t you rather run your commercial on a network where someone might stick around long enough to see the ad?”

This same dynamic can be witnessed in radio. Arbitron data indicates that news stations, like KNX-AM, usually possess a far higher “cume” (or overall number of people who listen) than talk outlets, but listeners stick with AM talk stations such as KFI and KABC almost 70% longer.

“The key ingredient in the formula is the personality of the host,” said John McConnell, senior vice president of programming for ABC Radio Networks, which syndicates talk-radio shows hosted by Larry Elder and Sean Hannity, who appears in Southern California this week as part of a talk-radio convention in Marina del Rey.

Although politics undoubtedly remains a factor in terms of who listens to and watches what, it’s not always a question of agreeing with the host, as evidenced by the liberals and moderates who tune in these more conservative voices. With the right hosts, McConnell noted, listeners feel “compelled to stay with them ... [and] the gravy is when you’re able to speak with people that have an opposing point of view and engage them.”

News-radio listeners check in seeking updates on traffic, weather and sports -- as well as reassurance nothing dreadful happened while they were at lunch -- before surfing the dial. Talk, by contrast, stirs up news and opinion into a frothy cocktail -- a way for time-pressed consumers to glean information with a stage show thrown in.

CNN, whose ratings soared during the Persian Gulf War and more recently when the Columbia shuttle crashed, has wrestled for years with how to keep viewing up during slower news cycles -- a vulnerability channel officials sought to address in 1998, when they launched an array of prime-time magazine programs under the heading “NewsStand.”

Unfortunately for CNN, such programs were plentiful on the broadcast networks, and more ambitious reporting doesn’t come cheaply. What does come cheap -- and did represent a sharper alternative -- was the kind of verbal slugfest popularized by “The McLaughlin Group,” a void Fox eagerly filled.

Fox News, then, is less reliant on the day’s headlines than the sheer theater of what Bill O’Reilly or Hannity can do with them. Seen this way, it’s no wonder old-line CNN staffers have grumbled about the tabloid streak running through “Connie Chung Tonight,” as it scraps with “The O’Reilly Factor” for every last viewer.

Similarly, MSNBC has called in its own version of the talk Marines, from wrestler-turned-politician Jesse Ventura to controversial radio host Michael Savage, who is spurring protests (and threatening retaliatory action against his critics) even before his weekly show premieres later this month. The only difference between MSNBC and pro wrestling at the moment is the spandex, but hey, at least the channel’s “making noise.”

If the news-talk analogy holds true, war in Iraq would benefit CNN initially, with people turning to the channel for its international and breaking news presence. Highlighting this strength, CNN is running an ad campaign saying, “When it matters most, America turns to the most trusted name in news.”

Over the long haul, however, the ability to retain viewers like a talk-radio station favors Fox, leaving CNN and MSNBC at a crossroads -- forced to stake out their own niche or try beating Fox at its game. Because given how small the cable news audience is, enough viewers will want to hear what showmen like O’Reilly and Hannity have to say -- especially if there is some hapless liberal to be bludgeoned -- to keep Fox in the driver’s seat, regardless of which way the political winds blow.

Moreover, while these other networks dither, Fox News has been infused with a clear sense of mission in its drive to win -- the same determination that energized KABC-TV’s “Eyewitness News” in the 1970s and ‘80s, every bit as much as the “happy talk” banter and salacious sweeps documentaries on topics like lesbian nuns.

Purists might feel disenfranchised by this, noting that O’Reilly’s tongue-lashings aren’t really “news.”

Still, they’re certainly entertaining in a Christian-to-the-lions sort of way, and what we’re talkin’ about is showbiz, baby, when the surest way to win hearts and minds is a swift jab to the kidneys.

Brian Lowry’s column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached at brian.lowry@latimes.com.