NEWS AND OPINION:
Let us spend a moment with Fox News Channel late-night kingpin Greg Gutfeld. His signature program, “Gutfeld,” has averaged 2.1 million viewers through 2022, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The size of that viewing audience bests both NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and also consistently trumps such cable rivals as Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” and “Real Time With Bill Maher.”
Mr. Gutfeld enjoyed his largest audience on record — 2.5 million — in late October.
The press has noticed.
“Is the right winning the comedy wars?” Vox.com asked in a comprehensive analysis that deemed Mr. Gutfeld himself “affably acerbic” and a comic who has “ascended to his long-awaited destiny” through years of notable work before the camera.
“The biggest comedy show on late-night right now is not on ABC or NBC or CBS or Fox. It’s not on Comedy Central. It’s certainly not streaming. It’s on Fox News, and its name is ‘Gutfeld!’” the news organization said.
Mr. Gutfeld’s ratings triumphs are occurring amid rumors that CNN plans to produce a new late-night offering that will air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
“Brass at the famously progressive news network have reportedly floated names such as Bill Maher, Trevor Noah, Arsenio Hall, and Jon Stewart, as candidates, to offer a nontraditional, late-night-esque take on the day’s news. Fox News has found success with ‘Gutfeld!,’ the late-night comedy show hosted by Greg Gutfeld,” the Daily Mail reported.
Mr. Gutfeld, incidentally, is also a co-host of “The Five” — the highest-rated program in cable news, again according to Nielsen.
Meanwhile, what’s the secret behind Mr. Gutfeld’s appeal and relentless comedic presence? It has a lot to do with his talent and smarts and the consistent, genuinely funny after-hours content.
And now it’s beating the other late-night shows, the first to do so since 2017, according to Nielsen.
MR. BANKS STEPS UP
Rep. Jim Banks, a conservative Republican, has launched a campaign to represent Indiana in the U.S. Senate — and the media has taken sharp notice.
Here is a brief look at how Mr. Banks was categorized in the instant coverage that followed the lawmaker’s announcement on Tuesday:
“Staunch Trump ally” (NBC News); “Trump ally” (Washington Post); “rising star in the populist–nationalist wing of the House GOP” (National Review); “vocal ally of former President Trump” (Axios); “combative defender of former President Donald Trump” (Associated Press); “Navy veteran and conservative” (CNN); “pugnacious culture warrior” (Politico); and “former state senator and veteran of the Afghanistan war” (Fox News).
MEANWHILE, ON THE BORDER
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin — who spends much of his time on the southern U.S. border — says a Customs and Border Patrol source told him that “migrants from approximately 170 countries around the world were encountered at the southern border in Fiscal Year 2022.”
Mr. Melugin revealed that eye-opening tidbit in a tweet Tuesday.
“So far in Fiscal Year 2023, I’m told migrants from over 140 countries have already been encountered,” he added.
Griff Jenkins, also a Fox News national correspondent, reveals that over 250,000 people crossed the southern border in December — or more than 8,000 a day.
“Those numbers are something we’ve never seen,” he said in a Fox News report on Tuesday.
Mr. Jenkins also spotted an unusual sight.
“It was another large group of migrants illegally crossing into Eagle Pass this morning — with one woman bringing her dog with her,” he noted.
This is not an uncommon occurrence.
Lauree Simmons, CEO and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, told Fox News in November that her organization has saved hundreds of stray, abandoned dogs left at the U.S. southern border by migrants.
“It is believed that nearly 50,000 dogs will need rescuing along the Mexico border in the coming year. A number that only grows as these dogs reproduce and are left without being spayed or neutered,” the organization said in a statement at its website.
Find the organization at BDRR.org.
The GOP, meanwhile, continues to monitor the evolving situation.
“There is no working ‘process’ at the border and the border is not ‘secure’ like the Biden administration falsely claims. Joe Biden and his cruel, destructive policies are to blame,” declared Tommy Pigott, rapid response director for the Republican National Committee, in a written statement.
SOMEONE’S KEEPING TRACK
Election fraud is a complicated political phenomenon — but someone is tracking it. The Heritage Foundation’s comprehensive Election Fraud Database now includes 1,412 proven instances of election fraud.
“Our legal center is monitoring many other ongoing prosecutions,” the organization said in a written statement.
“The database, which provides a sampling of recent election fraud cases, demonstrates the vulnerabilities within the electoral process and the need for reforms to secure free and fair elections for the American people,” Heritage said.
The database doesn’t list potential fraud discovered by election officials or “undetected” fraud.
Take a peek at the findings at Heritage.org/voterfraud.
POLL DU JOUR
• 39% of U.S. adults made a New Year’s resolution as 2023 arrived.
• 59% of this group vowed to improve themselves.
• 53% vowed to better their health; 46% vowed to make lifestyle changes.
• 43% vowed to monitor their personal finances, 34% to lose weight.
• 27% said they would tend to personal relationships; 23% vowed to manage their time.
• 12% would reduce their carbon footprint; 3% cited some “other” resolution.
SOURCE: A Golden/Tipp poll of 1,356 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 4-6. Respondents could list more than one New Year’s resolution.
• Helpful information to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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