In what may go down as one of the most dramatic media shake-ups of the year, ABC has reportedly lost almost 1 million subscribers overnight. The reason? One tweet from tech mogul Elon Musk, who, after witnessing what he described as “blatant bias” during ABC’s recent presidential debate coverage, called for a full-blown boycott of the network. As with most things involving Musk, the fallout was swift, chaotic, and absolutely meme-worthy.
The Twitter/X tycoon’s simple but potent call to arms came after the highly
anticipated Trump vs. Harris debate, moderated by ABC’s David Muir and
Linsey Davis. While presidential debates are always hotbeds of contention, this
one hit a new level of absurdity, with Musk’s ire specifically aimed at what he
saw as the moderators’ heavy-handed fact-checking of Donald Trump.
According to Musk and his followers, Harris received much lighter treatment
during the debate, prompting Musk to jump in and declare ABC unwatchable.
“ABC is worse than your Wi-Fi during a Zoom call,” Musk tweeted late into the night. “Boycott them. Let’s show them who really runs the show.”
Elon Musk, the man who can send cryptocurrency prices into a tailspin with a single meme and has Tesla’s stock bouncing like a rubber ball, has now proven that his influence extends beyond tech and into the heart of mainstream media. His followers, an eclectic mix of tech enthusiasts, libertarians, crypto investors, and those simply in awe of his spacefaring dreams, wasted no time jumping on the boycott bandwagon.
It didn’t take long for the digital stampede to show real-world consequences.
For those unfamiliar with the debate that kicked off this media firestorm, it all went down during the much-anticipated Trump vs. Harris presidential debate. Moderated by ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis, the event quickly became a battlefield of interruptions, fact-checking, and thinly veiled frustration.
By morning, ABC’s subscription base was crumbling faster than a stale cookie.
Nearly 1 million subscribers, many of them long-time viewers, had canceled
their ABC streaming services. Flatforms connected to ABC, like Hulu, also
began to feel the pinch as Musk’s followers opted to abandon anything even
remotely affiliated with the network. Some claimed they were “purging” their
apps to make sure no corporate wokeness survived the Musk-fueled purge.
For those unfamiliar with the debate that kicked off this media firestorm, it all went
down during the much-anticipated Trump vs. Harris presidential debate.
Moderated by ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis, the event quickly became a
battlefield of interruptions, fact-checking, and thinly veiled frustration.
According to Musk and countless others, the moderators spent the bulk of the
debate correcting Trump’s claims while letting Harris off the hook. “It felt more
like the Harris Fan Club than a debate,” one Musk supporter tweeted in outrage.
“They let her do a TED Talk, but Trump couldn’t get a sentence out without a
fact-check hammer dropping.”
This sentiment echoed throughout the night, but it wasn’t until Musk-ne-er one
to keep his thoughts to himself-publicly declared his displeasure that the
floodgates opened.
“We need to fight back against biased media,” Musk tweeted. “ABC has lost it.
They don’t care about fairness anymore. Let’s show them that viewers still have
power.
That was all it took. Musk’s legion of loyal fans needed no further
encouragement. The countdown to ABC’s mass exodus began.
But by the time ABC’s PK department had finished crafting this boilerplate
response, the damage was already done. Musk had weaponized his Twitter/X
platform with laser-like precision, and ABC’s subscriber base was shrinking
faster than a black hole.
“It’s not just about the debate,” one disgruntled former subscriber said after
canceling his service. “it’s about the media thinking they can tell us what to
think. if Elon Musk says they’ve gone too far, I believe him.”
Whether or not this mass cancellation is temporary or a long-term problem for
ABC remains to be seen, but early indications suggest that the boycott may
have staying power. Musk’s fans, after all, are nothing if not fiercely loyal, and
once they decide to stand by their tech overlord, they don’t easily back down.
Naturally, the next question on everyone’s mind is, “What’s next for Musk?”
After singlehandedly derailing ABC’s subscriber base, many are speculating that
Musk might take this opportunity to expand his empire beyond social media,
cars, and space exploration.
With nearly a million subscribers gone overnight and the #BoycottABC
movement showing no signs of slowing down, ABC now faces a tough decision.
Will they attempt to appease the Musk-initiated revolt by altering their approach
to political coverage, or will they double down on their editorial stance and
weather the storm?
The network is already scrambling to hold emergency meetings, with
executives allegedly brainstorming ways to win back the lost audience. Kumors
of an apology—or at least some kind of concession—are swirling, though ABC
has yet to make any further announcements beyond their initial statement.
One thing’s for sure, though. Elon Musk’s grip on public discourse has reached
a new level, and ABC is feeling the heat. Whether the network can recover from
this unprecedented subscriber loss is up for debate, but for now, the score is
clear: Musk 1, ABC 0.
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