Hannity & Palin beat Morgan & Winfrey in last night's ratings game

Not bad for someone whose career is over /sarc
*
In last night's cable news ratings cage match, Sarah Palin outdraw Oprah Winfrey as the two were guests on competing programs in the 9PM EST time slot on Fox News and CNN respectively:

Palin appeared on Fox's "Hannity" to give her first interview in the wake of media attacks on her over the Arizona massacre while Winfrey was the prize guest on the debut of "Piers Morgan Tonight", CNN's successor to the Larry King Show.

[...]

The numbers according to Broadcasting & Cable:

Hannity: 2.4 million, 600,000 in 25-54demo.

Morgan: 2.1 million, 521,000 in 25-54 demo.

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC: 1.1 million, 342,000 in 25-54 demo.

As Kristinn points out, The New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, New York Magazine and Broadcasting & Cable all headlined Morgan in their reports, even though Gov. Palin helped Hannity win the ratings battle. In contrast, The LA Times' "Show Tracker" blog titled its post "Sarah Palin upstages Piers Morgan's CNN premiere with Oprah Winfrey":

Morgan's heavily promoted CNN show got off to a decent if not thrilling start in the ratings Monday night, scoring 2.1 million total viewers according to the Nielsen Co.

But Fox News Channel, which employs Palin as an analyst, was not to be outdone. The network shrewdly scheduled the former Alaska governor as a guest on "Hannity," where she attacked the mainstream media for connecting her to the recent shooting in Tucson.

As a result, Morgan had to settle for second place to Sean Hannity, who delivered 2.4 million viewers. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow was third with 1.1 million.

Even so, the Morgan premiere at 9 p.m. delivered a rare dose of healthy ratings for CNN. The program more than tripled the audience "Larry King Live" was averaging in its final days late last year.

Reuters also acknowledged that Gov. Palin was the stronger draw: "Piers Morgan gets big CNN debut, but beaten by Palin"

How dare that woman attract more viewers than the sainted Oprah!

- JP

Kelly: Obama Groupies Oprah, Matthews Spread Media's Anti-Palin Gospel

Americans are not the Danes, nor do we do share the left's view of Big Government
*
William J. Kelly comments on Oprah Winfrey's thinly veiled diss of Sarah Palin in today's issue of Parade Magazine. The lamestream media, he says, "are already lapping it like swine."

Asked by Parade whether the prospect of Gov. Palin running for President scares her, the Obama sycophant replied, “It does not scare me because I believe in the intelligence of the American public”:

So, is Oprah saying that the American people are too smart to vote for Palin? Is she also saying that intelligent people want Obama’s Big Government agenda that Palin is opposed to? If she is, did she bear witness to the recent Midterm Election Massacre of 2010 that symbolized the complete and utter rejection of the President and the progressivism he’s been force-feeding us? If that is indeed what the Queen of All Media is saying, someone may need to screw her head back on.

MSNBC’s Chris “Tingles” Matthews probably got a thrill up his other leg when he read the transcript of Winfrey’s comments. He praised the talk show diva saying, “Isn’t it incredible how Oprah can deliver a zinger like that while in the same sentence, offering such an uplifting portrait of us?” Yes, all hail Oprah.

Like Oprah, Matthews is known for his gushing adoration of Obama. He even cries during his speeches and compares him to Jesus. During the 2008 Election, Matthews said of then Senator Obama, “I’ve been following politics since I was about 5. I’ve never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament.”

[...]

Oprah gushes over Denmark’s free healthcare, free education, and unemployment security, where if you lose your job the government pays up to 90% of your salary for four years.

[...]

What Oprah doesn’t mention is that Denmark’s taxes are the highest in the world – between 50-75% of your income. It is no secret that President Obama and the mainstream media look to Europe’s socialist model for inspiration, hoping to eradicate American capitalism once and for all. In the video, Oprah, too, is giddy with excitement to be with those bicycle-riding Danes who share her worldview. But Americans are not the Danes and we do not share this view of Big Government. It is not our cultural identity to believe in the equality of outcomes, just the equality of opportunity. That is Sarah Palin’s view as well. However, to an Oprah Winfrey or a Barack Obama, those who do not share their view are simply not intelligent or sophisticated enough to understand what they are trying to do or how they are – sigh – trying to make the world a better place.

As much as the mainstream media has what Bernard Golberg calls "A Slobbering Love Affair" with Obama, Kelly points that they’re salivating over more opportunities to attack Gov. Palin every day during the next two years, just as they have done on a daily basis since August of 2008.

- JP

Sarah and Bristol take pro-life message to Oprah's show (Updated)

*
Sarah Palin leaves no doubt about what she wants the main topic of discussion to be when she and daughter Bristol appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" today:

"Bristol&I r getting ready 4 Oprah interview this am,it's 37th anniversary of DC's March 4 Life so will discuss peaceful,hopeful msg of LIFE"

Update: Gov. Palin also posted this reminder on her Facebook Notes page:

Talking About Life Today

In light of today’s March for Life in D.C., which promotes a positive, peaceful, hopeful message concerning the sanctity of life, Bristol and I are being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey to talk about choosing life. The show airs today, and you can check your local listings for details.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

TV Glide: Sarah Palin Edition

*
Sarah Palin appears tonight on "The O'Reilly Factor" where she "opens up about her private life" -- according to BOR's page on the FOX News website. 7 PM and 10 PM Central. 

And if we heard Sean Hannity correctly on his radio show, Gov. Palin will be on "Hannity" tonight on FOX News, although we could find nothing on the Hannity page of the FNC website to confirm this. 8 PM and 11 PM Texas Time.

Also, the former governor will make a return visit Friday to "The Oprah Show," that program's website says. She will discuss her new FOX News job with Oprah, and daughter Bristol Palin will be along to talk about "life as a single teenage mom, premarital sex and what she wants to say to young girls everywhere." As they say on teevee, "check your local listings."

- JP

Sarah Palin boosts Oprah's ratings to a two-year high

With Sarah Palin as her guest, Oprah Winfrey's show notched its best ratings performance in two years. Broadcasting & Cable magazine's Paige Albiniak has the numbers:

The CBS Television Distribution talk show hit a 7.2 rating/18 share weighted-metered-market average for all telecasts on Monday, Nov. 16. That's up 36% from last year's 5.3/13 time period average.

B&C reports that Monday's edition of the program with Sarah Palin was also was the highest rated since the Whitney Houston interview which was this year's Oprah Show season premiere. 

h/t: hotairpundit

- JP

Sarah Palin On Being Interviewed By "The Perky One"

In her interview with Oprah Winfrey which was broadcast on "The Oprah Show" Monday, Sarah Palin refers to Katie Couric as "The Perky One":

Oprah: ...been in a situation where you leave and you say "I wish I had said something different." So when you finished that interview did you think, "I wish I had just named some magazines?"

Sarah: Absolutely! Then we probably wouldn't be talking about it today.

Oprah: So you are saying now that the reason why you had the responses to Katie Couric is because you were annoyed with her?

Sarah: Well, I was annoyed with where we were, what we were doing at the time, and all these segments too. We had just come off the most amazing rally, working the rope line for I don't know how long, these energized awesome people, and I'm pumped up, over the top pumped up with energy, and I'm so happy and running back stage. And my friend Betsy opens the curtain for me and there's the perky one again, with the microphone and the cameras rolling, and I'm like, hey, you know, give me a couple of minutes to gather...

Oprah: Perky meaning Katie.

Palin: With all due respect, yeah.

Oprah: You're pretty perky too.

Sarah: I talk a lot about the Katie Couric interview in the book because I want the transcript, too, to speak for itself, to show that she asked me twelve different times my position on abortion and the morning after pill. She did not want, I guess, to hear my first candid, truthful response about being pro life and wanting to usher in a culture of life and empower women to know that they are strong enough and smart enough to have that child. I gave my answer and she asked it again.

A video clip of this segment of the interview is here, courtesy of "Real Clear Politics. The Oprah Show's recap of the full interview is here.

Not included in that clip, but just prior to it, according to NewsBusters.org, Sarah Plain had said that some of her annoyance with Couric stemmed from what she perceived as an elist attitude on Couric's part:

"Well, and, obviously, I have, of course, all my life I'm a lover of books and magazines and newspapers," Palin said. "By the time she asked me that question, even though it was kind of early on in the interview, I was already so annoyed, and it was very unprofessional of me to wear that annoyance on my sleeve, but it was like ... ‘Are are you kidding me? Are you really asking me?' To me, it was in the context of, ‘Do you read? How do you stay informed, you're way up there?' It seemed like she was discovering this nomadic tribe, a member of a tribe from some Neanderthal cave in Alaska, asking me, ‘How do you stay in touch with the real world?'"

She said she thought Couric was indicative of the state of journalism today and the fundamental problems with it.

"That's how I took the question, so I kind of-- well, didn't kind of, I did. I rolled my eyes and was annoyed with the question and thought, ‘You know, I think that this is a problem with the state of journalism today, is no matter what I say to her, it will probably be twisted, perceived as a bit negative.'"

- JP

Sarah Palin: Our ticket was perceived as the status quo

In her interview with Oprah Winfrey which aired on "The Oprah Show" Monday afternoon, Sarah Palin said that the McCain Palin ticket lost the 2008 presidential election because it was perceived as the status quo:

Oprah: Do you think in any way that if you had been allowed to be more of yourself and less scripted that there would have been a different outcome?

Sarah: Not necessarily. I think the reason that we lost -- the economy tanked under a Republican administration. People were sincerely looking for change. They were quite concerned about the road that America was on with our economy. They did not want more of the same. They did not want status quo, and I think unfortunately, our ticket represented what perceived as status quo. I don't think that I was to blame for losing the race any more than I could be credited with winning the race had I done a better job as a v.p. candidate.

Real Clear Politics has the video clip of this segment of the interview here. The Oprah Show's recap of the full interview is here.

- JP

Sarah Palin: 2012 "not on my radar screen right now"

In her interview with Oprah Winfrey, to be aired on "The Oprah Show" this afternoon, Sarah Palin said that a run for the White House in 2012 is "not on my radar screen right now."

Palin fans should not be discouraged, however. Most political observers would consider the former governor's response to be a typical "non-answer" to a question that few, if any, political figures would be crazy enough to answer in the affirmative this far in advance of the 2012 presidential race. Most pundits will simply intrpret her answer to mean that she's not shutting the door on a possible run.

Also in the report from the Chicago Tribune's entertainment page is this exchange between Oprah and Sarah:

Oprah: Everybody's waiting on the Levi question I know.

Palin: I hear he goes by the name Ricky Hollywood now. If that's the case, we don't want to mess up this gig he's got going---kind of this aspiring porn. Some of the things he's got going, it's kind of heartbreaking.

Oprah: "The Playgirl" centerfold.

Palin: I call that porn, yes. He's quite busy with his media tours and he hasn't seen the baby for a while. Levi forever will be the father of this baby, and I continue to hope for the best and pray for the baby.

More here.

- JP

Oprah's Outtakes: 5 Sarah Palin clips that won't be on TV

Here are links to five video clips from Oprah Winfrey's interview of Sarah Palin. These are Web-only, as they won't be televised as part of The Oprah Show:

Why Sarah Palin wrote Going Rogue

The worst part of the entire 2008 campaign for Sarah Palin 

Did Sarah Palin discuss McCain's offer with her entire family

What was the best advice Sarah Palin was given during the 2008 campaign

Sarah Palin on Tina Fey's impersonation of her

- JP

In Oprah interview, Sarah Palin holds out olive branch to Levi

The Oprah Winfrey Show, has released two short video clips to promote  the Sarah Palin interview which will air in full Monday, November 16, as reported by CNN.

In one clip, former Governor Palin held out an olive branch to Levi Johnson, saying that the Palins would like to bring him back "in the fold and kind of under your wing. And he needs that, too":

"I think he needs to know that he is loved and he has the most beautiful child, and this can all work out for good," Palin said. "It really can. We don't have to keep going down this road of controversy and drama all the time. We're not really into the drama. We don't really like that. We're more productive."

The 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate also said in another clip that she was amazed when the McCain campaign staff told her that her appearance with Katie Couric was "a good interview" and encouraged her to continue to continue to talk to the CBS news anchor after that:

"The campaign said, 'Right on. Good. You're showing your independence. This is what America needs to see and it was a good interview,'" Palin said. "And of course I'm thinking, if you thought that was a good interview, I don't know what a bad interview is because I knew it was a bad interview."

- JP

Sarah Palin: "Oprah was very hospitable and gracious"

From Chicago, where Sarah Palin taped her appearance on the Oprah Show which will air November 16, the former governor posted on her Facebook Notes page:

Oprah on November 16th

Willow, Piper, and I are in Chicago and just wanted to let you know that I had a great conversation with Oprah today. We taped the show for Monday, November 16th, and enjoyed it so much that we went way over on time. The rest will air on Oprah.com. Oprah was very hospitable and gracious, and her audience was full of warm, energized and (no doubt) curious viewers.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

Quote of the Day (October 28, 2009)

Cosmic Conservative:

"So, Sarah Palin is willing to appear on Oprah, but Obama is afraid to appear on Fox News, and Sarah Palin is supposed to be the 'unserious' one?"

- JP

Sarah on Oprah: Are Liberals Aching for an Ambush?

- By Ian Ransom

Sarah Palin's November 16th guest-appearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show is weeks away and leftist hyenas are already emerging from every fetid lair imaginable, quivering with excitement at the prospect of a bloody "kill." Progressive saliva is dripping from bared fangs. Liberal talons are being gnawed to the proverbial quick.

"I can't wait for this interview!" panted a Democrat acquaintance of mine. We ran into each other at the grocery store last night in Carmel Valley. I was looking for an admittedly sinful pint of my favorite brand of ice cream. She, apparently, was looking for some sort of Rachel Maddow Halloween costume in frozen froods, which is actually a great place to look for a Rachel Maddow costume, when you think about it. In any event, my friend required a mere five seconds to raise the subject of Palin's imminent summit with the Big O. I guess the word "Hi" is now considered grounds for liberals to automatically assault conservatives in public places.

"Sorry, Ransom, but your dear Sarah is gonna get what she deserves, once Oprah sits her down. Do you even have the nerve to watch?"

"Gee, I imagine I'll look at the transcript and probably see some internet footage, Linda, but I don't think Sarah's admirers are particularly neurotic about this appearance, one way or the other. We tend to think she can hold her own. We don't put any stock in media spin."

"Hold her own?" gasped Linda, absently yanking a few strands of hair from her scalp. One of her eyelids was twitching involuntarily. The Left one. "You've got to be kidding me. Ian! She's so irrelevant. Even you must see that by now. That wolf-killer has no place in political discourse."

"You mean, except for the discourse you're holding about her right now? By the way, Linda, have you been drinking?"

"No!"

"Well, you might want to consider it. You seem a bit wound-up."

Don't get me wrong: I like Linda, a little, and it's no surprise that she had to get some Palin-hatred off her chest. The woman's Birkenstocks were practically on fire to begin with and she knows that I'm an avowed conservative. Our chance encounter at Safeway, however, underscores what I perceive to be a vast and telling difference between the conservative approach to Sarah Palin and the approach taken by so many minions of the Left.

As conservatives, we see Palin through the lens of common sense and character, because these are traits that Sarah mirrors back, as it were, to like-minded citizens with eyes to see and ears to hear. Imperfect, but unquestionably decent and real. Palin also reflects something back at the Left, but when the mirror of Sarah's all-American integrity and straightforward dignity is lifted in that direction, liberals do not like what they see staring back at them in the glass.

That's because they, too, see themselves. Funny things, mirrors.

We live in a perilous age for American Exceptionalism on the both the national and personal fronts. For the Left, emotions have become "accomplishments." Not content to revere the pursuit of true character, people instead cloak themselves in characteristics. It is an illusory time, and this is one reason why we witness such an astonishing polarity in the way Americans view Sarah Palin. This is one reason why we witness the almost obsessive penchant of the Left for screaming like rabid howler-monkeys when it comes to Palin. Eschewing all rational context, they must fixate upon (and arbitrarily isolate) Palin's characteristics because characteristics are all that they are equipped to comprehend, because the strength of her character cannot be withstood. It's foreign to this Age.

Knowing this much, let's not be too shocked when "friends" and fellow citizens rudely accost us while white-knuckling their shopping carts, or when overexcited media denizens like Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly's Popwatch purport to offer us cynical nonsense like the "Five Best and Worse-Case Scenarios" concerning an Oprah/Sarah couch-chat that hasn't even happened yet.

"Going rogue" is an adventuresome endeavor, friends. It may even get a little bumpy. But will Sarah Palin get to her destination with head held high, with or without the endorsements (or potential entrapments) of billionaire talk-show hostesses? You betcha.

- IR

Reaction to Sarah going on The Oprah Show, Part 2

*
More reaction to Sarah Palin's scheduled appearance on Obamoprah's Show...

Another Black Conservative:

"I wonder which Oprah will show up that day? Will it be Oprah the Obama Shill, who refused to have Palin on her show during the election and who may use this opportunity to try to sink Palin and her book for Obama? Or will it be Business Woman Oprah who is watching her ratings steadily tank?"

Lisa de Moraes:

"Oprah Winfrey, on a campaign to climb back from last season's ratings slump, will attempt to kiss and make up with conservative viewers on Nov. 16 when she has Sarah Palin on her syndicated talk show."

Alamo City Pundit:

"I can’t help but think she’ll give into her liberal nature and have a few little twists of the skewer for Obama’s potential 2012 opponent. And can Oprah bear to not ask about Palin’s daughters? I doubt it."

Whatever Is Right:

"The Oprah sit-down provides Palin with a chance to re-reintroduce herself to a captive American public."

IC Blog:

"But what about the people who are still on the fence? If Palin manages to win over a good number of those people then the 2012 campaign is on the march."

The Iowa Republican:

"Of course, the variable factor in all of this is Oprah. Oprah… a devout Obama worshipper, and when she’s not worshipping Obama, she’s a crazy, new-age pagan. In other words, she really can’t be trusted to be fair (more because of the Obama thing than the pagan thing). But, Oprah’s not stupid. Most of her viewers have far more in common with Sarah Palin than they do Oprah’s golden boy."

The Oprah Blog:

"Oprah endorsed Barack Obama in the election, the first time she publicly supported a candidate. Think Oprah can see Russia from her Chicago skyscraper?"

BackyardConservative:

"No Oprah can't see Russia from her skyscraper, well maybe Michigan which is failed Obamanomics writ large, but Oprah can see the writing on the wall--she needs Sarah Palin more than Palin needs her. And she can't depend on The One to lift her show from the doldrums--he has sagging ratings of his own."

The Lonely Conservative:

"Maybe it’s the Amazon best seller list that convinced Oprah that Americans find Sarah Palin to be quite fascinating."

Below The Beltway:

"For the first time ever, I may actually watch The Oprah Winfrey Show by choice..."

The Conservative Reform Network Blog:

"Sarah Palin is a phenomenon, a brilliant retail politician, a steel magnolia, not to be underestimated which is why the Left attempts to mischaracterize her and her views."

The New Agenda:

"Since our piece in The Daily Beast, 'Should Women Back Palin in 2012?', there’s been a fair amount of 'commotion' on the blogosphere about this subject. Several pro-Palin blogs have been exploring this notion – the importance of Sarah Palin reaching out to get women’s votes. Well, seems Sarah Palin agrees!"

- JP

Reaction to Sarah going on The Oprah Show

Some of the early reaction to the announcement that Sarah Palin will appear on the Obamoprah Show...

Doug Powers:

"It’ll be November sweeps and Oprah, though biased, isn’t stupid."

Bryan McAffee:

"I’m guessing Nov. 16th gets her highest ratings of the year."

Greta Van Susteren:

"Will Oprah ask the Governor about Bill Ayers?"

Holly Conway:

"Do we smell a cat fight?? You betcha!"

Allahpundit:

"Less obvious [discussion topic]: Oprah’s decision not to have her on during the campaign and whether it was fair to accuse The One on the trail of palling around with terrorists. If she gets that question and turns it around on Oprah by wondering why she had the integrity to quit Rev. Wright’s crazy church when our fearless leader didn’t, I might endorse her on the spot."

FireAndreaMitchell:

"Unless Sarah Palin decides to tear this flat blimp Obama cleerleader to shreds, I don’t see why she would give Oprah the time of day."

The Ripley Report:

"Winfrey refused to have anything to do with Palin during the campaign, saying she didn't want to be political (yeah, because going on the campaign trail with Obama was as apolitical as it gets)."

Politik Ditto:

"Despite Queen Oprah's tremendous assistance in getting the Liar-In-Chief elected president, even Oprah knows that Palin brings in ratings."

Jim Hoft:

"Say it ain’t so?"

Noel Sheppard:

"Unfortunately, judging by some of the comments being left at her website, Oprah's fans are not pleased... Such a tolerant bunch, dontcha think?"

Ace:

"No hard feelings over last year's boycott I guess."

Hillbuzz:

"Palin’s wicked smart in this: for some reason, suburban women still watch Oprah (mainly, we think, so they can count her as 'a black friend', which they whip out whenever they’re somewhere surrounded by liberals and they need to show how progressive and open they are."

You know there's more reaction to come...

- JP

Unconfirmed: Oprah will finally get that Sarah Palin interview

Sarah Palin made Oprah Winfrey wait for it, but pending confirmation, it appears that she's finally going to be on Oprah's teevee talk show. Recall that Winfrey is the Obama supporter who felt it was best that Sarah Palin not appear on her show during the 2008 presidential campaign, because:

"I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates."

But Oprah certainly didn't mind giving that platform to Barack Obama, who appeared on her show twice.  Once the election was over and her candidate of choice was safely elected, Oprah complained that she tried to get Palin for an interview, but that the former VP candidate wouldn’t talk to her and chose to speak to other outlets instead.

Sarah held out on Oprah until it would be in her interest to agree to go on the show, and now that the 2008 GOP VP candidate has a book to promote, it's in her interests. As Thomas Conner of the Chicago Sun-Times points out:

Of course, there's really one reason Palin chose Oprah: She's got a book to sell. And Oprah can move tanker-loads of books.

At the Tribune, Chicago's other newspaper, Maureen Ryan reported today:

Oprah Winfrey will interview former Alaska governor Sarah Palin on her talk show on Nov. 16. Winfrey will get the first interview that the former vice presidential candidate is giving to promote her new book, Going Rogue.

The full Trib story and the press release from Oprah's show is here.  

- JP