Will recent disclosures about Fox News hosts’ conversations behind the scenes alienate the network’s viewers? “The audience is not going anywhere,” one cable executive said. “It’s basically the W.W.E. for this kind of world.”
But, despite the bad headlines, Fox News has little incentive to change its ways. For one thing, the network’s loyal audience is likely to remain glued to their screens, especially as a contested G.O.P. Presidential primary plays out on-air over the next two years. Thanks to that audience, the rate that Fox News charges cable companies to carry its shows is the highest among cable-news providers. So long as its ratings remain high, the network can negotiate fat fees.
What’s more, Fox News’ parent company has pursued a successful, if conservative, fiscal strategy in the past few years. As other media companies rushed to acquire more and more properties—bigger is thought to be better in the subscription video-streaming wars—Fox Corp decided to offload. In 2019, itsTwenty-first Century Fox to Disney netted the company $71.3 billion. Since then, Fox Corp has focussed on a niche strategy of live sports and news.
But Fox News could still find itself imperilled if its pro-Trump audience turns against some of its biggest stars, such as Carlson. In one of the released messages, Carlson called Trump “a demonic force, a destroyer.” Two days before the January 6th riot at the Capitol, he texted Hadden that “we are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights” and lamented what they had felt forced to do for the previous four years.
At this point, the only thing that might trigger an internal reckoning about the role of Fox News in American civil life is the departure of its owner. Murdoch, who is ninety-two, is a committed conservative, as is his eldest son and preferred successor, Lachlan. In his deposition, Lachlan spoke of his faith in the power of the network to withstand the post-election turbulence.
But there is a speculative scenario in which, at some point in the future, Murdoch’s youngest son, James,
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