CHARADES: What kinds of ratings does Gutfeld! achieve?

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Let's take a look at the record: We mentioned this point several times in yesterday morning's report.

We want to stress it again. Within the context of "cable news," Greg Gutfeld's eponymous program on the Fox News Channel does boast a very strong viewership.

Last week, Gutfeld the person became Variety's scowling cover boy. His photograph graces the cover of the entertainment publication's latest edition, as you can see at this link. 

Midway through her lengthy profile of Gutfeld, Tatiana Siegel offered this assessment of the Fox News Channel host: 

"What is indisputable is his ratings prowess." 

We wouldn't necessarily go that far. But Gutfeld! does boast very good ratings within the "cable news" context.

As Ed McMahon might have said, how "very good" are they? According to Deadline, these were the five top-rated "cable news" programs for calendar year 2024:

Average viewers, cable news programs, 2024
The Five (Fox News Channel): 3.4 million viewers
Jesse Watters Primetime (Fox News Channel):  3.1 million, 
Hannity (Fox News Channel):  2.8 million 
Gutfeld! (Fox News Channel):  2.54 million 
The Ingraham Angle (Fox News Channel):  2.51 million

They were the year's top five. And yes! Like it or not, all five of the most-watched cable news programs aired on the Fox News Channel. Gutfeld! was one of the top five, but a nitpicker can find problems. 

At 10 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. on the west coast), Gutfeld! attracted fewer viewers than Hannity, the program which preceded it at 9 p.m. (6 p.m. out west). Also, Gutfeld! did substantially less well than Jesse Watters Primetime, which airs at 8 p.m. Eastern (you can figure the rest).

Among those five Fox News Channel shows, Gutfeld! exceeded only The Ingraham Angle (7 p.m.), and in that case just by a hair. Its numbers didn't stand out among these Fox News Channel shows. In fairness, let's also say this:

As with other Fox shows, Gutfeld!'s current numbers dwarf those of the competing programs on CNN and MSNBC. According to Adweek, these were the total viewership numbers for last Thursday's 10 p.m. "cable news" shows:

Total viewers, 10 p.m. Eastern, 2/20/25
Gutfeld! (Fox News Channel):  3.02 million 
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell (MSNBC):  1.23 million
News Night with Abby Phillip (CNN): 0.50 million

Oof! Like it or not, Gutfeld! is currently crushing its direct competition—within the cable news context. 

Does that mean that Gutfeld, the person, possesses an indisputable ratings prowess? It's pretty much as you like it! 

On the downside, consider last Thursday night. On that evening, Gutfeld's program attracted fewer viewers than all but one of the Fox News Channel shows, starting at 5 p.m. Eastern:

Total viewers, Fox News Channel, 2/20/25
The Five: 4.68 million
Special Report with Bret Baier: 3.48 million
The Ingraham Angle: 3.44 million
Jesse Watters Primetime: 3.74 million
Hannity: 3.016 million
Gutfeld!:  3.022 million 

Those shows all crush the direct competition on CNN and MSNBC. But while Gutfeld! crushed the competition, it lagged behind the other shows on the dominant Fox News Channel. 

(In fairness, it should also be said that Gutfeld himself serves as one of four Red American co-hosts on the powerhouse program, The Five. One co-host from Blue America is added to the mix. This introduces a bit of frisson as the one allegedly liberal co-host is overtalked by the four.)

Roughly speaking, that's the way Greg Gutfeld stacks up within the "cable news" context. For whatever reason, the Variety profile followed Gutfeld down a winding road of remarkably high self-regard. 

As we noted yesterday, Siegel pretended that Gutfeld is the host of a "late night" program.  Working from that inaccurate premise, she was soon comparing his viewership numbers to those which are achieved by the Big Three network late night comedy hosts:

What is indisputable is [Gutfeld's] ratings prowess. The former print journalist...helms the only late-night program that averages more than 3 million viewers, according to the most recent Nielsen Media Research data....His critics say his numbers should come with an asterisk because he benefits from the earlier start time of 10 p.m., and that it airs even earlier on the West Coast. But in August 2022, he became the first late-night host to overtake Colbert in the ratings since 2017, and he accomplished that feat when “Gutfeld!” aired at 11 p.m. Like it or not, the nasal-voiced shit-stirrer who sees no topic as off-limits is leading the pack—and expanding his audience.

[...]

Gutfeld is an unlikely king of late night. With a panel format instead of the one-on-one setup of his peers, “Gutfeld!” features a hodgepodge of regulars who were once ubiquitous until they tilted rightward, such as comedian Rob Schneider and Vincent Gallo. His rivals, he says, are losing audience share because they adhere to “a very narrow, agreed-upon groupthink” and, therefore, can “never be funny.” Despite being 60 years old and a Trump stan, he is attracting a younger and more politically diverse audience than his counterparts. In fact, “Gutfeld!” is beating “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” “Real Time With Bill Maher” and “The Daily Show” by every measure and is uniquely poised to ride the Trump 2.0 wave.

For the record, Schneider and Gallo aren't regulars on the Gutfeld! program in any normal sense of the term. Beyond that, Siegel's suggestion that Gutfeld's "regulars" were big stars until they moved to the right is a fantasy of major proportions, once you examine the actual status of Gutfeld's regular guests.

Having said that, also this:

Following the lead of her subject, Siegel calls Gutfeld "the king of late night" in that passage. For the most part, she does this by comparing him to late night network comedy shows—to actual "late night" programs, programs which air much later in the evening than the primetime Gutfeld!  does.

As we noted yesterday, Gutfeld! airs at 7 p.m. right there in Siegel's own Tinseltown. By way of contrast, the Big Three late night comedy shows air at 11:35—more than four hours later. 

Siegel reports this fact in an absurdly fuzzy fashion, attributing it to "Gutfeld's critics." In this respect, her profile is an essentially silly industry puff piece—an imitation of journalism, a journalistic charade.

Like all other Fox News Channel shows, the primetime Gutfeld! program is crushing the world when compared to other "cable news" shows. The attempt to compare it to late night comedy shows breaks down in a wide assortment of ways.

That said, Siegel's profile suffers from an even larger framework fail. That would be her persistent suggestion and claim that Gutfeld! is a comedy show—an entertainment enterprise.

Greg Gutfeld gets very strong ratings within the "cable news" context. But is he really "the king of late night?" More to the point, is Gutfeld! a comedy show?

Plainly, the program isn't a "late night" show in any meaningful sense of the term. The claim that it's a  comedy show is more slippery and much more pernicious, given the ways of the times.

Too funny! In the passage posted above, Siegl quotes Gutfeld slamming his rivals—that is to say, people like Colbert, Kimmel and Fallon—for the following reason:

His rivals, he says, are losing audience share because they adhere to “a very narrow, agreed-upon groupthink” and, therefore, can “never be funny.” 

Too funny! However one may assess the work of the late night Big Three, is there anyone on the face of the earth who insists on “a very narrow, agreed-upon groupthink" to a greater extent than the aforementioned Gutfeld does?

Tatiana Siegel, please! In his (routinely braindead) topic selection and in his nightly selection of guests, Gutfeld imposes an inviolable groupthink on his (cable news) program. That groupthink, mixed with a stunning coarseness of tone, makes Gutfeld! a charade in itself—an imitation of life.

No, Fantasia! Gutfeld! isn't a late night program—but it also isn't a comedy program! It's a primetime "cable news" program—and it's a program whose host insists on an utter uniformity of viewpoint.

For better or worse, the Gutfeld! show is devoted to groupthink. And though Siegel doesn't seem to have noticed, things go downhill from there.

Tomorrow: Groupthink in the raw