Sponsors who left Fox News star Laura Ingraham’s show at the behest of teen gun control activist David Hogg are missing out on a 20 percent increase in eyeballs.
The conservative author of “Shut up and Sing” lost nearly 30 advertisers since a boycott against her show launched March 29, but those who held firm are benefiting from a ratings windfall. Data compiled by the media watchdog News Busters shows a jump from 2.23 million viewers prior to Mr. Hogg’s campaign to 2.7 million since her return from a vacation.
The Ingraham Angle also dominated overall ratings Friday. The program had a ratings high and was No. 1 in cable news with 4.7 million total viewers and 1,174,000 in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic.
Companies including pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG cut ties with “The Ingraham Angle” after the host mocked Mr. Hogg’s inability to get into a certain colleges.
The 17-year-old Parkland, Florida, shooting survivor rejected an apology from Ms. Ingraham shortly after her March 28 tweet.
“Since Ingraham returned from vacation on April 9, total viewership of her program has averaged about 2.7 million (Monday through Thursday; Friday’s numbers are not available),” News Busters reported Monday. “Compare that to the ratings from March 26 through March 29, the Monday through Thursday just prior to the boycott: That week, Ingraham’s total viewership averaged 2.23 million. The increase in her ratings since the boycott began is more than 20 percent.”
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The organization added that Ace Hardware will resume a sponsorship after having acted on “incomplete” information.
Mr. Hogg, however, is not done with boycotts.
“Going to announce another boycott this week … Stay tuned,” the high school student and March for our Lives organizer tweeted Monday.
Going to announce another boycott this week… Stay tuned 🙂 pic.twitter.com/XIURHxFgW4
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) April 16, 2018
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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