Hit by a lurid sex scandal, Bill O'Reilly's popularity with TV viewers plummented in 2004, while Jon Stewert rocketed to the top of the
charts in TV viewer popularity (with the exception of the ubiquitous Oprah):
COMEDY Central's political junkie Jon Stewart was up with viewers in 2004 and Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly was down, according to a new poll released yesterday ranking Americans' favorite TV personalities.
[snip]
Stewart, who wrote a best-selling book and covered the presidential election on "The Daily Show," jumped from No. 6 to No. 2 this year, tied with perennial top-fiver, David Letterman.
Harris Poll officials said Stewart's strong guest appearance on CNN's political talk show "Crossfire" -- in which he dissed the show and its hosts, particularly bow-tie wearing conservative Tucker Carlson -- juiced his popularity.
O'Reilly, the top-rated talk show host on cable, dropped to No. 8 from No. 3, most likely due to his lurid phone-sex scandal, Harris officials say.
How's this for a couple of New Year's resolutions:
(1) Let's push Jon Stewert to No. 1, and help him overtake the ubiquitous Oprah (Note: this will be nearly impossible)
(2) Let's knock O'Reilly off the charts altogether. The guy is a blowhard and serial liar who can't control himself -- we need to hit him while he's down so that can't be resurrected. Let's do it! Oreilly Off the charts in O-five!