Going negative in politics is nothing new.  It’s as American as apple pie and everything else that fits this tired saying.  People come to expect it as part of our great debate in a democracy.

But what we rarely ever see are companies or corporations on the attack.  Aside from the comparative ads that used to run between Coke vs. Pepsi and McDonalds vs. Burger King from 20 plus years ago, it seems that defining your competitor has become taboo in the private sector.  

However, I just stumbled across this little spot recently produced by FOX News Channel that takes direct aim at CNBC’s Jim Cramer.  I guess it takes a former political operative like Roger Ailes to change the game of the cable news wars – once an operative always an operative.

The thing that I like best about this spot is how closely it resembles a traditional political campaign attack ad in style and production feel.

A few months ago I came to the conclusion that the cable news networks (FNC, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC) would do considerably well during this presidential season – outperforming 2004 and general expectations.  I also made the assumption that the cable news networks would do even better during the course of both Party conventions.  Now, I’m not claiming that these predictions were anything earth shattering, as anyone who pays attention to voter viewing habits, election coverage and ratings probably could have come to the same conclusion a few months ago as well.

However, I was so sure of this magnetic effect of viewership to the cable networks that I made several arguments in the past few weeks to clients and buyers to consider putting much more emphasis into purchasing airtime during nightly convention action.

So it does warm my heart to see hard data reaffirming my prediction.

In a story posted today, Matea Gold of the L.A. Times reported a small piece on the convention viewership draw to broadcast and the cable networks.

The opening night of the Democratic National Convention drew more than 22 million TV viewers, a 20% larger audience than in 2004, according to Nielsen Media Research.

NBC drew the most viewers, pulling an average of 4.71 million viewers for its hour long special anchored by Brian Williams, up 4% from four years ago.

Overall, the picture was even rosier for cable news networks, whose decision to devote nearly all their programming to convention coverage paid off.

CNN averaged 4.27 million viewers, beating the broadcast networks for the first time with its convention coverage.

All three posted major gains over 2004. 

There are a few reasons for the substantial increase that I predicted.  Here are a few supporting points – some are more obvious than others:

Check out after the jump

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