Internet Suckage…

Mediaweek’s Mike Shields writes about CNN.com beating the pants off Foxnews.com. This is one of those pieces on FNC that…shocker…doesn’t have anyone from FNC co-operating with it.

There are numerous theories as to why Fox lags so far behind online (executives declined to comment for this story). Longtime CNN.com producer Mitch Gelman, now vp of quality for Examiner.com, contends that it’s a simple question of quality. “CNN’s online service has been and continues to be better than Fox’s,” he said.

Fox was also late to a medium where habits are hard to break. “Six or seven years ago, Fox News was not as focused on the Web,” said Amy Mitchell, deputy director, Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. In the early 2000s, said Mitchell, Foxnews.com was about promoting the net’s hosts. “That has changed.”

The other often floated theory/stereotype is that Fox News viewers are geezers who barely use dialup. But according to Nielsen, the median age for CNN this year is 63 vs. 64 for Fox News. However, Fox News’ audience is composed of significantly higher percentages of the 45+ and 65+ demos.

But many believe age doesn’t explain the Web audience gap, since CNN.com draws many millions of news users that never watch the TV network. “You can’t get 30 million or 40 million unique users by speaking to one particular political ideology,” said CNN.com svp/gm KC Estenson. “When people want to know what is going on in the world, they come to us.”