The president's its third televised news conference in as many months ended with ratings down 42 percent from their February peak of 49 million. The obstinate bastards at Fox win! Just look:

As you can see in TV By The Numbers' chart below, Fox's crime serial Lie to Me beat everyone, with nearly 8 million viewers and a 2.3 share. So Rupert Murdoch probably isn't too hurt that Obama snubbed Major Garrett of Fox News, who never got called on for a question like he did at the first two pressers.



That said, Obama beat Fox, if you add together his numbers on the other broadcast networks, and netted a respectable 29 million total viewers (including cable). And that's with questions from Ed Henry and Chuck Todd, who were not banned, or ritualistically flayed, this time. The American people really do have incredible fortitude.