Is Faux's Star in a Decaying Orbit?

From Washingtonian:

...it seems the mighty ship that has been Fox News Channel might be springing a few leaks—and viewers. FNC’s heavy hitters—O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Shepard Smith—all dropped in the coveted 25-to-54 age demographic, according to ratings figures for June and the second quarter of 2005.

The O’Reilly Factor took a dive between last year’s second quarter and the same quarter this year; the host lost about a quarter of his viewers in the age range that advertisers crave. Last year he had 640,000 viewers in the 25-to-54 demographic; the number dropped to 468,000 this April, May, and June. Comparing June 2004 to June 2005, he dropped from 645,000 to 511,000.

Sean Hannity in the 9 pm time slot also lost among these viewers. He dropped 20 percent of his 25-to-54 audience in June and 24 percent through the quarter when compared with 2004.

But the biggest loser was Shepard Smith at 7 pm. Comparing the two Junes, Smith’s 25-to-54 viewers went from 514,000 to 348,000. His second-quarter numbers were not so dire, a drop of 29 percent.

Fox News pushes a different set of numbers to media writers, and for good reason. The “P2+” ratings count overall viewers rather than carving them up by age. Overall, Fox’s numbers are strong—far above CNN’s.

But for advertisers, who will pay a premium to get their products before the eyes of baby-boom and younger viewers, Fox’s grip on this crowd is loosening.