I think its more likely that they have alienated the part of their audience who had at least a semblance of a functioning cerebral cortex. My guess is their average viewer is more conservative now, because that's all they have left.
Nicer than saying they're dying of old age and type II diabetes? I kid the Fox news viewers. But really, I'll never understand why anyone willingly subjects themselves to that level of propaganda. Maybe there's no such thing as unbiased reporting, but they're on a plain all by themselves.
No. You couldn't pay me to watch MSNBC. Well educated has nothing to do with it. My gf loves Rachel Maddow and she always says, "She's a Rhodes scholar." To which I say, "Who gives a shit? O'Reilly went to the Kennedy School, so its a wash." Neither cares about 'truth', which is what interests me, even if I can't really define it myself.
MSNBC has a strong ideological bent. Fox News is straight up laughable with their level of ridiculousness. For example, you would never see an MSNBC reporter literally reading Democratic talking points on air. Plus MSNBC is a small fish compared to Fox so they aren't that dangerous to begin with. Edit: And admittedly I'm exposed to a lot more of Fox ridiculousness because I watch Jon Stewart and Colbert.