By Michael Calderone
Politico.com
June 12, 2008
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“Well, according to today’s Washington Post Style cover he is. And Amy Poehler’s Wonder Woman! The Post dubs them “comedians of clout,” and while we know the kids hang on Stewart’s every word, how do they stack up against the real news people.
Other News vs. Comedy cases pop up on the dial: In its season finale last month, “Saturday Night Live” attracted about 6.5 million viewers. “CBS Evening News” is averaging about 5.7 million viewers nightly. That means that Amy Poehler, the diminutive, perky faux anchor, garners a larger audience to watch her deliver fake news than Katie Couric, the diminutive, perky true-life anchor, does to see her deliver real news.
A similar numbers game plays out on the cable channels. “The Daily Show” drew about 1.8 million viewers recently, as clocked for a Pew study, putting the program on a ratings par with Fox News’s “Hannity and Colmes,” and exceeding such other news-commentary shows as Chris Matthews’s “Hardball” on MSNBC. In comparison, Fox News’s “The O’Reilly Factor” draws about 2.6 million viewers nightly.”
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