SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

A REAL CABLE RACE – FROM MEDIAITE:   The top three cable news networks enjoyed some big ratings boosts in 2018, but MSNBC is so far pacing to win December––as of now placing #1 in primetime in total viewers and the 25-54 demographic.  And in a remarkably news-packed December, from Michael Cohen‘s sentencing to Michael Flynn‘s sentencing hearing, Rachel Maddow currently holds the top spot overall as the most-watched cable news program.  In primetime, MSNBC has averaged 2.51 million total viewers, followed by Fox News with 2.47 million and CNN with 1.3 million.  In the 25-54 demo, MSNBC is winning again with 573,000 viewers to Fox’s 424,000 and CNN’s 375,000.  Lawrence O’Donnell at 10 p.m. and Brian Williams at 11 p.m. are also winning in their respective time-slots in the final month of 2018.  Fox News, however, remains the top cable news network of 2018 overall in the ratings, with Sean Hannity at the top at 9 p.m.  Sheer hatred of the president drives much of the MSNBC rating rise.  The real story is the fading of CNN, which bills itself as "the first name in news," but has become the anti-Trump network with little news and much opinion.

THE GOODBYE STATE – FROM CBS LOCAL:  ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) - New York State leads the country in an undesirable category.  New data from the U.S. Census Bureau says New York tops the nation in population loss.  The report says nine states saw a drop in population between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018. New York led the way at a loss of 48,510 people.  Illinois (45,116), West Virginia (11,216), Louisiana (10,840), Hawaii (3,712), Mississippi (3,133), Alaska (2,348), Connecticut (1,215) and Wyoming (1,197) also lost people.   New York's population of 19,542,209 is still fourth-highest in the country.  Nevada and Idaho are the nation’s fastest-growing states. Both states saw their populations increase by about 2.1 percent in the last year.  Our state of New York has become pathetic – ridiculously high living costs and absurdly high taxes, combined with mediocre services and facilities.  The magic of New York has all but faded.  Broadway is a tourist attraction.  The great publishing firms are foreign-owned.  The most creative people are driven out.  Andrew Cuomo is governor.  Who could ask for anything less?

EVEN DEMOCRATS LEARN ABOUT FAKE NEWS – FROM FOX:  Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on  Tuesday afternoon took aim at a mainstream news article, dismissing it as “gossip.”  She tweeted: “One disappointment about DC is the gossip that masquerades as ‘reporting.’ This story has: - Not a SINGLE named or verifiable source - Only ONE on-the-record comment, which is a denial. My dad had a name for junk articles like this: ‘Birdcage lining.’”  The tweet was attached to a Politico story titled,: “Ocasio-Cortez weighs a new primary target: Hakeem Jeffries. Jeffries, the newly elected No. 5 Democrat in the House, has drawn criticism from the left since the party's leadership elections.”  The news outlet’s vice president of marketing and communications, Brad Dayspring, stood by Politico’s journalism: “It’s hard to know what the criticism of the piece is, since the congresswoman-elect doesn’t specify (nor has she or anyone from her staff asked for a correction). We stand by our reporting.”  The article claimed the Democratic socialist from the Bronx “has recruited an African-American woman to challenge Jeffries, who was just elected ... as caucus chairman — the No. 5 House Democratic leadership position.”   Ah, they live and learn.  Welcome to Washington, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.  To paraphrase Irving Berlin, "You've had your way with the press before, but you won't have it there anymore."

December 19, 2018