Fox News Channel ran an ad in multiple trade magazines and national publications this week taking a shot at its competitors’ use of asterisks in ratings promos, using words like “pathetic” and “half-baked.” The ad is also linked at the top of FoxNews.com. After the jump, the full ad:



A CNN insider tells TVNewser: “Obviously Fox is frustrated and must be down in the dumps because CNN has outscored them on every key political night — from primaries, debates, election night, to the inauguration — and CNN has been winning at 10 pm in the key demographic for a year now. No asterisks here.”

> Update: From an FNC insider: “No surprise that CNN has to resort to talking about the past given their current state of ratings turmoil in February — not only battling MSNBC for second place yet again but pacing to be the only news network to lose viewers over last year during one of the busiest months for news on record. What’s next, Jon Klein creating a time machine to transport CNN back to one of their 12 hour wins in 2008?”

> Update (2): “Wait,” an MSNBC insider tells TVNewser, “Fox thinks it does news?”

Click continued to see the full ad…