O'Reilly attributed MSNBC's ratings drop to "karma" and "bad guys [getting] theirs," ignored sinking ratings for Fox News programs, including his own

Summary: Bill O'Reilly attributed Gary Krantz's recent move to step down as president of Air America Radio and Rick Kaplan's decision to leave MSNBC to "karma" and "two bad guys [getting] theirs," saying, "Do bad things, you'll get yours eventually. Do good things, you'll get rewarded."

During the June 27 broadcast of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly asserted that the ratings of competing cable news network MSNBC are attributable to "karma," explaining, "Do bad things, you'll get yours eventually. Do good things, you'll get rewarded." Identifying former MSNBC president Rick Kaplan as one of the "bad guys who got theirs" and pointing out that MSNBC's ratings are "lower than they were six years ago," O'Reilly asserted that Kaplan "has left after pretty much destroying that place." However, O'Reilly did not mention, let alone assess the karmic implications of, the second quarter ratings of 2006 showing a drop in viewers for every show on his own Fox News Channel, including an eight-percent drop in total viewers for the Factor and an 11-percent drop in Factor viewers in the 25-54 demographic. From Mediabistro's TV Newser weblog:

Fox News Channel lost viewers across the board in the second quarter of 2006. The network dropped 19 percent in the demo and 5 percent among total viewers compared to the same quarter in 2005. The quarter-to-quarter drops are also notable, and they're demonstrated in the chart below.

"Early prime" programs were the biggest losers. Your World and Big Story are down 15 percent in the demo. Special Report is down 24 percent. Fox Report is down 19 percent. The total viewer losses are almost as bad.

Quarter-to-quarter numbers can and do fluctuate. But the fact that every program, from 7am to 11pm, lost viewers in the second quarter helps explain why Roger Ailes is on the warpath.

From the June 27 broadcast of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Time now for the "most ridiculous item of the day." If you've read any of my books, you know I believe in karma: Do bad things, you'll get yours eventually. Do good things, you'll be rewarded. Recently, two bad guys got theirs. Air America has fired its president, Gary Krantz. The disastrous radio network booted him out on the heels of the removal of CEO Danny Goldberg. We believe there is major chaos at that far left concern. There's also major chaos at MSNBC, where Rick Kaplan has left after pretty much destroying that place. He did the same thing at CNN before he got fired over there. Closing in on its 10th anniversary, MSNBC's ratings are lower than they were six years ago, which might be ridiculous.

—R.M.