Ingraham Gets the Last Laugh As Companies Boycotting Show Hit with Devastating News
If the left thought that calls for Fox News host Laura Ingraham to resign and the departure of some of her advertisers was going to hurt her, her return to the air this week proved them sadly mistaken.
According to Mediaite, Ingraham maintained her position atop the ratings in her time slot, slightly edging out MSNBC and trouncing CNN.
“The Ingraham Angle,” whose eponymous host returned from a pre-planned Easter vacation that just happened to coincide with Parkland survivor David Hogg’s calls for advertisers to boycott her show, racked up an average of 2.69 million viewers during its first week back on the air.
Lawrence O’Donnell’s “Last Word” on MSNBC was second in the cable news time slot sweepstakes with 2.6 million viewers. CNN’s “Tonight” with Don Lemon was a distant third with 1.29 million viewers.
Ingraham’s pre-planned vacation was somewhat unfortunately timed, as it came after she had made a controversial joke at the expense of Parkland survivor and anti-gun activist David Hogg and his rejection from certain universities.
Hogg rejected Ingraham’s apology and instead decided, with the help of liberal activist group Media Matters for America, to insist advertisers boycott her show in an attempt to drive her off the air.
The boycott and Ingraham’s vacation led many to believe that she would go the way of Bill O’Reilly, whose departure followed a similar pattern.
According to The Daily Caller, while several advertisers did pull out, there wasn’t the kind of defection that would have precipitated Ingraham’s firing. One advertiser in particular — My Pillow — made it clear they weren’t going anywhere.
And one advertiser who said it was going to pull their advertising, Ace Hardware, was still airing commercials on Ingraham’s show upon her return.
A representative for Ace Hardware told The Wrap in an email that they had “incomplete information” when they first announced they were pulling their advertisements.
“Advertising on any network or show, is in no way an endorsement from Ace of the content contained or spoken within that program,” a Thursday night statement by the company read. “We appreciate the different points of view from our customers, and believe people should be treated with respect and civility.
“At this time, we have not altered our current media schedule; however, we regularly review our media strategy,” the statement added.
The liberal boycott strategy clearly hasn’t worked on Ingraham, and unless Hogg — whose access to the media seems to be quickly receding — is able to somehow transmute the Fox News’ remarks into anger again, it looks as if the threat to Ingraham is over.
Which is how it should be. Ingraham’s initial comment was inadvisable. She’s apologized for it and that apology was rejected — mostly, it seemed, so that Hogg and his supporters could continue to foment outrage. Much like Hogg’s visibility, however, that outrage is also receding quickly from our collective memory.
Don’t believe me, though; believe the numbers, which must be making every company who pulled their advertisements sick.
Far from being on the ropes, it looks like Laura Ingraham is having the last laugh.
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