Fox News chief to be removed

Sure, this is Fox News, and sure, it's U.S. media, but I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere on here. This will all have major repercussions not just within Fox, but also in the TV news industry.

Recently departed Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson is suing Fox News chairman, CEO, and creator Roger Ailes for sexual harassment. Normally, this kind of thing would be swept under the rug under Rupert Murdoch's watch, but an independent investigation is rumored to have come up with some pretty unpleasant results, and the younger Murdochs want to see Ailes leave. Many people have come forward defending Ailes, though they all suspiciously are on the Fox News payroll, while many women are reaffirming Carlson's suit. Megyn Kelly is also ready to go public in alleging sexual harassment, according to some accounts.

It's been reported that many high profile talent, such as Bill O'Reilly, Greta Van Susteren, and others have options in their contracts that allow them to leave Fox if Ailes leaves. It has also been suggested that James Murdoch would prefer to see Fox News transition more to a Sky News style of programming.

Either way, this means major changes for how Fox News will operate in the future.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/business/media/as-an-internal-inquiry-sinks-ailes-questions-about-fox-newss-fate.html

Very interesting. I wonder where the likes of O'Reilly would end up if Ailes left? There are only really two other networks that sit in the 'Fox' camp. They are Newsmax TV and One America News Network. Both struggle to get decent carriage, no doubt because of Murdoch's strangle-hold. If a few of the personalities jumped ship to one of the other networks, in one group, it could see a bit of a dramatic shift in the media landscape. Interesting times ahead!

James Murdoch (who crippled News International) and Lachlan Murdoch (who ruined the Australian entities), have no clue what they are doing... Love Fox or hate it, it is number one in all of Cable- James and Lachlan have been waiting to tamper with Fox, this gives them a reason to do so.

http://www.npr.org/2016/07/11/485507874/stakes-are-raised-in-sexual-harassment-suit-against-fox-news-chief-ailes

I can't see FNC losing their right-wing Republican skewed bias. Moving to the centre like Sky would be too damaging for the brand.

That would be the logical conclusion, but all three of the Murdoch children take issue with FOX and want to move it to the centre-- a completely illogical proposal-- but, as i said, this is James and Lachlan who destroy everything they touch.

It's not that illogical. One of Fox News' big problems is its aging viewership, the median age of its audience is around 68 and rising.
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/12/28/fox-news-literally-dying-age-younger-viewers-refuse-watch-fox.html

It may have the highest ratings but if their audience are dying off then it's not going to last in the long term. I'd have thought ad sales would do better with a younger audience too. With Ailes gone they can start to plan for the long term


Of course, moving to a more 'Sky News format' doesn't necessarily mean a change of political leanings, just more newsy and dynamic and appealing to a younger audience.

FNC brings in 20% of 21Century Fox's money, so i wouldnt surprised if they left it alone to bring the the cash to line their greedy pockets. Money is money and these big private media companies are naturally greedy and have only one interest and that is making money for themselves and shareholders. If this busty-leggy-blonde news-bunny right-wing scream-fest "model" didnt work to pull in horny, old, angry men for hours at a time, they would have scrapped it years ago. Money money....MONEY (sing it boys....)

They're not just in it for the money, Ailes and Murdoch are in it for the power and influence too.

Not that Murdoch has much interested in Fox News, he lets Roger Ailes get on with it. He's apparently impressed by his performance but doesn't subscribe to Ailes politics

Rolling Stone did an excellent profile of Ailes a few years ago:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-roger-ailes-built-the-fox-news-fear-factory-20110525

Sky News is loss making and always has been. There isn't any money to be made in real journalism.

Fox news reportedly made 1.5bn profit last year. Not even James Murdoch is dumb enough to screw that up. It's an absolute money making machine. Loads of commentary and very little actual reporting keeps costs down.
Also Greta and Hannity are both easily replaced.

OK....Power ,Money...money...power. It all goes hand in hand .....ehhh... maybe the theme should be POWER by KMFDM.. LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K30Fqry601s

I think this is true. FNC could transition to a more palatable and contemporary format more swiftly than people realize. At the heart of it, Fox News *is* a news organization. The correspondents are pretty decent (many of them ex-CNNers), and nobody questions the credibility of the Fox affiliates or NewsEdge. Just get rid of the panel shows during the day and some of the other hysterics. As for primetime, it was already being rumored that O'Reilly is looking to retire, and I'm willing to bet Hannity is the most likely to walk and follow Roger. Replace them with the younger talent who still lean center-right (Megyn Kelly, Shepard Smith), and you'd have a much more robust and dynamic network that would be ready to capture a younger audience.

I don't think we'll actually see a Sky-style network with the same news bulletin every 15 minutes all the time, but I do think FNC has the ability to double down on rolling news and still feature some center-right voices at night.

Fox News has so many adverts, I don't think I could watch it.