CNN got worse ratings than HGTV
by digby
Nikki Justice doesn’t seem like she’d be a big fan of HGTV’s show “Property Brothers.” A first-year astronomy and physics major at Ohio State University, she’s never owned a home, let alone flipped one. But her parents watched regularly, and now Justice tunes in several hours a week to watch one home transformation after another.
“A lot of the news these days is really stressful,” she said. “HGTV is not something that’s going to hurt me. I watch it and dream of what I want for my future house.”
So does Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, who recently said that he prefers HGTV to ESPN. Taylor Swift shared on Instagram her affection for HGTV’s “Fixer Upper.” And Hillary Clinton said she likes “Love It or List It” and “Beachfront Bargain Hunt,” calling them “relaxing, entertaining and informative.”
The escapist appeal of looking at other people’s beautiful homes turned Home & Garden Television into the third most-watched cable network in 2016, ahead of CNN and behind only Fox News and ESPN. Riding HGTV’s reality shows, parent company Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. has seen its shares rise more than 30 percent this year, outperforming bigger rivals like Walt Disney Co., 21st Century Fox Inc. and Viacom Inc.
I can understand this. CNN became unwatchable during the campaign what with the bizarre Trump-hack panel concept they came up with. I watched because it’s my job but I’ve cut way, way back now. In fact, I’m not watching TV much at all and have switched to listening to classical and jazz just so that I can keep my spirits up. TV is depressing.
I’ll go back at some point. And I do still get a lot out of Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow and some of the other MSNBC hosts who take an adversarial position against right wing bullshit. But for the most part, I just can’t take it. The every day normalization of Donald Trump brings me down and makes it difficult to see things clearly.
There are lots of things to read and watch on line to inform yourself. Even here. Cable news isn’t really necessary at least not in more that specific chunks of time.
Happy Hollandaise everyone.
