Advertising leads to viewers, viewers lead to ratings, ratings lead to addtitional revenue for Fox. The circle of death is complete. The Simpson’s is occassionally in the top 20 for ratings (that POS show JAG somehow gets in the top 20 instead,WTF?!) The cost of this type of advertising (suing) is fresh, new and cheap and has been proven by Fox News suing Franken. If I were a member of the Fox board and saw how it worked on Amazon for Franken and shot his book through the roof, why not try it on one of your own shows.
(I’m not saying that’s Fox News’ motivation at all, but it just seems suspect to me).
I don’t think Fox are too concerned with the advertising for The Simpsons, as it earns a hell of a lot more in syndication than it would from advertisers.
I recently caught the end of a Simpsons rerun where Homer inadvertently saves the residents of Springfield from a UFO cult. At the end, the Simpson family is watching TV and talking about what had happened. Lisa says, “it’s so good to think for ourselves again.” Then the TV intones, “You’re watching Fox News.” The four of them respond in monotonic unison, “We’re watching Fox News.” I cracked up.
Sounds like Groening has a fun time needling the hand that feeds him. More power to him!
Slight nitpick - they were merely watching Fox, not Fox News specifically.
Well, as a matter of fact, the top three nonfiction books on the NYT list this week are by Michael Moore, Al Franken, and… Bill O’Reilly, who just happens to have a television show on Fox News.
I wonder how the O’Reilly Factor ratings are doing this month?
[Homer]It’s funny because it’s true…[/Homer] 
All news media think their viewers are idiots. Same goes for advertising agencies.
But covering celebrity news and their entertainment divisions’ new shows is a crucial part of any 24-7 news network. Dammit, it’s not like you can find out about celebritys anywhere else. If there was only some channel about entertainment or some way to find celebrity news in magazines or on the Internet.
I’m gonna get rich!
So, Fox Corp. let’s Fox News look like complete assholes to advertise a show of Fox Entertainment?
So, if Fox News aren’t the idiots, then Fox Corp. is.
If Matt is just making this up to advertise the Simpsons, do you think that Fox News is just going to keep quiet and let its image slide? No, they’d sue him… and… well, there you go.
Minor nitpick. Wasn’t that Fat Tony?
Well obsoyrved!
Although, I’m sure Homer said that at one point. I think it was while he was watching a hack comedian on late-night cable.
Don’t you hate it, when you go to the bathroom, and there’s no toilet paper?
Wasn’t Homer watching a black comic poke fun at white people?
Yes he was. About how we drive, no less.
Oh and RobuSensei, ROTFLMAO I believe it!
Groening rocks. He and his team have mopped the floor with Fox many a time. My personal favorite is the Futurama episode with the network execu-bots. I have no idea how they actually got that thing funded, produced and released, but bless 'em for doing it.
LC
After reading the news crawler items from The Simpsons episode listed above, the reason Fox News was pissed off, possibly threatening to sue, and claiming viewer confusion becomes obvious:
They wanted those particular items for their real news crawl.
Isn’t Fox basically shooting itself in the foot?
Isn’t Fox basically gnawing off its own foot that’s caught in its own steel trap?
:: D&R ::