CNN viewers flee Lou Dobbs

Sure, it's summer, and the media frenzy over Michael Jackson's passing had people (well, some people anyway) riveted to their television sets, which temporarily inflated viewership of cable television news channels. Still, this is a bit surprising:

Mr. Dobbs' first began reporting on Obama birth certificate conspiracy theories on the night of Wednesday, July 15. In the roughly two weeks since then, from July 15 through July 28, Mr. Dobbs' 7 p.m. show on CNN has averaged 653,000 total viewers and 157,000 in the 25-54 demo.

By contrast, during the first two weeks of the month (July 1 to July 14) Mr. Dobbs averaged 771,000 total viewers and 218,000 in the 25-54 demo. In other words, Mr. Dobbs' audience has decreased 15 percent in total viewers and 27 percent in the demo since the start of the controversy.

Dobbs' rating slide suggests that the birther sideshow is considered by a not insignificant portion of his audience to be a turnoff. It also suggests that Dobbs' program has lost some of its appeal. Both conclusions are refreshing.

Since it isn't bolstering ratings, the birther sideshow will pretty much have to shut down, and the media will have to move on to something else. It's been illuminating to see how strangely Republican congresscritters on the Hill behave when confronted with this lunacy (kudos to Mike Stark for that), but otherwise, the whole sideshow has been a waste of time and energy.