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Bolt Report inaccurate with ratings data

The Bolt Report says its total audience is often bigger than ABC1's Insiders -but isn't adding up all the numbers.

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Yesterday Andrew Bolt slipped in a reference to ratings figures that suggested The Bolt Report has more viewers than ABC1’s Insiders.

“Since The Bolt Report started 22 shows ago we’ve asked more than 50 times for Gillard government ministers for a chat. Gillard, Rudd, Combet, Bowen, Crean… but not one had even though our total audience is often bigger than the ABC’s Insiders,” he said.

The line about “total audience” is meant to mean the total of the show’s two airings at 10am and 4:30pm on Sundays. By all rights it should really be an average of the two (which is frequently the way the Free to Air sector arrives at averages for Pay TV’s many replays).

But even adding in the two numbers, the figure is still incorrect.

Why? Because Insiders plays on both ABC1 and ABC News 24.

If the total audience for The Bolt Report is the total of its two broadcasts, then ABC is entitled to have their three broadcasts factored in. This is a multichannel landscape after all.

So adding up all broadcasts of both shows here are the most recent results.

Sunday 25 September
9am Insiders ABC1 201,000
9 am Insiders ABC News 24 33,000
8pm Insiders ABC News 24 20,000
Total: 254,000

10am The Bolt Report TEN 119,000
4:30pm The Bolt Report Encore 126,000
Total: 245,000

Sept 18
Insiders 239,000
The Bolt Report 221,00

Sept 11
Insiders 236,000
The Bolt Report 134,000 (one screening)

Sept 4
Insiders 276,000
The Bolt Report 264,000

56 Responses

  1. Andrew’s ratings will surpass the ABC’s as he masters the satire that underpins his political commentary. I was puzzled as to who he was targeting with his satirical behaviour (interrupting guest’s answers when they don’t match his prejudices, failing to provide evidence to support his arguments, and indulging in an orgy of sycophantic ego-stroking with his favoured guests), but now it is clearer. Andrew, is it Piers Akerman or Alan Jones your are satirising on your show or if it is not satirical are you coached by Bill O’Reilly?

  4. David,
    Don’t forget to add New Zealands ratings and Aus Regionals to the Bolt Report. Because my figures suggest:
    Bolt Report: 2.86million
    Insiders: 312,000
    So clearly Bolt report is bigger. sigh

  5. “Any reason only September figures were picked?”

    Probably because Bolt made the comment this week and was presumably referring to his current ratings, rather than whatever happened back in May. One would assume “often” should mean more than once or twice… and that if his ratings triumph was a regular event, the month of September should not be immune.

  6. Wouldn’t this be news if he wasn’t inaccurate with facts?
    Who cares though? Bolt is a ratings machine, just look at what he’s managed to achieve co-hosting mornings at MTR. /sarc

  7. Neighbours has higher ratings than both, does that mean the PM should be interviewed for Paul Robinson’s newspaper????
    That is the logic we are dealing with here. His show is no more factual than Neighbours.

  9. Yeah, well, those figures are just your opinion. And by stating them you prove that you and the rest of the world are trying to crush freedom of speech by muzzling Mr Bolt.

    My guess is that the “addition” operation that you used was designed by “scientists” and can therefore at best only be regarded as a theory. More likely it was part of an elaborate conspiracy to silence Mr Bolt.

    Many of the Climategate emails contain uses of this “addition” operation. Of course, the mainstream leftist warmist media don’t tell you that, do they?

    Coincidence? I think not, mein liebschen.

  10. Poor Andrew! How terrible what those lefties have done to him! Why, anyone reading those articles of theirs would believe he is a sanctimonious bully. A complete narcissist – acknowledging only his own feelings exist and nobody else’s – as if he’s living in some ivory tower where white is always right and News can do no wrong. A coward, who fires his vicious barbs from behind mummy Rupert’s apron, yet goes crying like a baby at the slightest hint of criticism. Wallowing in self pity, bellowing from the headlines of the paper he works for and yet claiming you have been “silenced”.

    Of course, we know they’re all wrong …. don’t we?

  11. While I in no way endorse this man or his ideals or anything he stands for in any way, surely he, like any political commentator surely he has a right to air his beliefs on any medium whether its print, television, radio or internet? Some here suggest he is merely toeing the pro Liberal agenda. If that is true then there is a case to suggest that the majority of Australians (as per recent polls) agree with his way of thinking. I’m not saying that’s true, only making an unbiased observation.

  14. Don’t forget the airings on ABC Radio National (average audience figure for Sundays is 30,000).

    Ben H says:
    Um, why do people hate on Bolt because he is biased towards the conservative side of politics?

    I don’t think it has much to do with his leanings, but has everything to do with his (deliberate or otherwise) hipocracy. He is guilty of the very things he accuses ‘leftists’ of, crys foul whenever someone points out an error, thinks ‘freedom of speech’ is the same thing as blatantly making stuff up, and at the same time stifles comment on ‘his’ blog.
    In short, people hate him because they think he’s a disingenous, reactionary with a big mouth and a low level of self-awareness.

    Some of the critisisms leveled against him can also be thrown at the people he throws muck at, but they don’t have the financial backing of some of Australia’s richest people to pull them out when they stuff up. Andrew has cost News LTD about half a million dollars in legal fees and compensation over the last few years. Not many commentators could afford that sort of outlay if they weren’t backed by Murdoch and Reinhart.

  16. Any reason only September figures were picked?

    “our total audience is often bigger than the ABC’s Insiders,” he said.” Note the word “often”, not “always” but “often”.

    Would be interested to see all the figures since his first show back in May.

  17. Ok, so you’re taking liberties too. In the end, Insiders has been going on for so many years and Bolt only just started this year and even by your figures, he is only 9,000 viewers short of Insiders. Great effort, I say for a brand new show against a stalwart!

  20. Um, why do people hate on Bolt because he is biased towards the conservative side of politics? There is not one political journalist in this country who writes or presents a fair and balanced piece of journalism ever. Not one. They all lean left or right and it shines through brightly in their articles/ columns/ segments. Deal with it.

  21. In my humble opinion, Andrew Bolt is nothing more or less than self-opinionated, self-promoting. The man has no journalistic morals or ethics and to call himself a journalist is farcical.

    Again, in my opinion, he is a typical protege of the Murdoch empire, where money is everything. Truth, accuracy, morals, ethics and due dilligence are something other people have.

  22. He only has a show because Gina Rinehart bought some of network TEN and then gave him a show.

    The problem with bolt is, it’s not that he is inaccurate a lot, it’s that he simply doesn’t care. There’s no respect for the truth, because to people like him there is no truth. Just whatever you say, and whoever you convince.

    Hence all his anti-scientific stuff. A scientific method of finding the truth is incomprehensible to him. He doesn’t understand the concept.

    So why would facts like ratings be any different? Although this is a small issue.

  23. No surprise there really. I wonder if Andrew/ Southbank Sook has replied to David’s article on his blog? He does reply to criticisms quickly and then just lies about the criticisms being false. Shame TEN didn’t fire him especially after the court case. Gina’s money is being well spent I suppose.

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