Claim:
ABC lost $27 million in advertising revenue following the U.S. presidential debate moderated by ABC News in September 2024.
Rating:
Originated as Satire ( About this rating? )
A rumor that ABC lost $27 million in advertising revenue following the Sept. 10, 2024, U.S. presidential debate was circulating online in the days after the contest.
According to the claim, advertisers pulled their commercials due to the "unfair" way ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis moderated the debate, purportedly providing favorable treatment to Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump.
For example, on Sept. 13, a Facebook user posted a screenshot to a group named BERKELEY COUNTY in the KNOW, which read: "ABC lost $27M in ad revenue & will no longer host debates after advertisers pulled ads from the network due to the rigged debate on Tuesday, September 10th." The user's caption said: "As they should, go woke and going broke." It was unclear which part of the debate they perceived as "woke."
On Threads, another user posted ( archived ): "ABC lost $27M in ad revenue after advertisers pulled ads from the network after the way they hosted the debate on Tuesday, September 10th, stating that it wasn't conducted fairly. GREAT. WONDERFUL. I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER." PolitiFact also mentioned this post in their reporting about the same rumor.
Other examples of the claim appeared elsewhere on X and Facebook .
However, there was no evidence to credibly support this rumor. Rather, it originated with SpaceXMania.com — a website describing its output as satirical in nature, including on its "About Us" page and as a label above articles. The Facebook page for SpaceXMania.com also said: "We specialize in SATIRE."
SpaceXMania.com posted an article about the ABC rumor on Sept. 12 — two days after the debate. The story featured the headline: "ABC Loses $27 Million in Advertising After Debate Fallout, 'Won't Be Hosting Any Debates In The Future.'" The article read:
In a development that can only be described as peak 2024 chaos, ABC has found itself $27 million poorer after losing five major advertisers in the wake of the latest presidential debate. The network, once a beacon of impartiality and trusted news, is now left clutching its pearls—and its bank account—after an explosive evening of real-time fact-checking, heated exchanges, and the collapse of corporate goodwill.
...
But instead of providing the spectacle advertisers had paid handsomely for, ABC's moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, did something truly outrageous: they started fact-checking.
The section of the satirical article that called fact-checking "truly outrageous" poked fun at online users who did not appreciate Muir and Davis correcting Trump regarding his false or unfounded rumors, such as the former president's assertion that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, dined on cats and dogs , among other rumors.
For further reading on the subject of ABC News and the same debate, we investigated another false rumor that an "ABC News whistleblower" died in a car crash while attempting to expose the debate with a "report" or "affidavit" that showed the network provided Harris with the questions in advance.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
Sources:
Czopek, Madison. "No Proof ABC Lost Advertising Because of Presidential Debate." PolitiFact , 15 Sept. 2024, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/sep/15/threads-posts/claim-that-abc-lost-27-million-in-ad-revenue-after/ .
Kasprak, Alex. "No Evidence Haitian Immigrants Are Eating Ducks, Geese or Pets in Springfield, Ohio." Snopes , 10 Sept. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/cats-ducks-haitians-springfield/ .
---. "Video Footage and News Headlines Don't Document Haitian Immigrant Eating Cat in Springfield, Ohio." Snopes , 12 Sept. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/video-headlines-immigrants-eating-cats/ .
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