NEW YORK — South Carolina Republican Bob Inglis, frustrated by a restive crowd at a recent forum to discuss health care reform, suggested people turn off the TV when Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck came on.
Big mistake.
Judging by the escalating boos and catcalls, squirting lighter fluid on burning coals would have been wiser. Beck is a hero to many people who are not buying the Age of Obama, and so is Fox. The network was already on pace for its best ratings year even before the health care debate sent viewership jumping during a traditionally slow month for news.
How emboldened is Fox? After President Barack Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs warned against "cable news" derailing health care plans, Bill O'Reilly assumed he was referring to Fox and seemed ready for a fight.
"Who's that going to help?" O'Reilly said. "Us, that's who. Our ratings are already soaring because we don't denigrate the protesters, the way a lot of other TV news organizations do. They're dying. We're on fire."
Fox's strong year hasn't come without controversy. Some critics worry about overheated rhetoric — Beck has called Obama a racist and joked about poisoning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — and suggest Fox has helped lead, instead of just follow, the president's opponents.
Fox's viewership is up 11 percent over last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. CNN and MSNBC, which benefited from interest in the campaign last year, are down. O'Reilly, who already had cable news' most popular show, Beck and Sean Hannity lead the way.
The ratings expose as naive anyone who believed that the dawn of a Democratic government in Washington would hurt Fox.
"Fox is much more firmly established than it has ever been," said Eric Burns, former host of Fox's "News Watch" media criticism show. "It has been in existence for 13 years. It knows its base. And it knows its base is bigger than CNN or MSNBC."
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