Rupert Murdoch Gives Up His Reign At Fox News
Issue #134 — What is the legacy of Rupert Murdoch as he begins to transition away from leading Fox News? Plus, news about what losing ABC might mean for ESPN and live sports is coming to Max.
Rupert Murdoch Gives Up His Reign At Fox News
In the early 90’s, Rupert Murdoch was envious of Ted Turner as he had the one asset he wanted to buy and could not get CNN. CNN had become a dominant global news force due to its Gulf War coverage, and its distribution meant that it could be accessed and watched worldwide.
Murdoch was envious of Turner’s success and influence and sought to replicate what he had, which led to the creation of Fox News in 1996. Fox News was not only a cable news competitor but was the conservative answer to what Murdoch believed was a liberal-leaning CNN.
Murdoch and his son, Lachlan Murdoch, have been primarily responsible for the rise and dominance of Fox News in the years since. They took the talk-radio format and replicated it for TV audiences, bringing prominence to the likes of Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, Megyn Kelly, and Tucker Carlson.
On Thursday, Murdoch set the media world ablaze by announcing that he would be stepping down as the Chairman of the Fox Corporation board (Fox News’ parent company) and the News Corp board. Lachlan will assume the top role in both companies, but Rupert will not exactly be out of the picture as he retains the title of Chairman Emeritus.
How best do you epitomize Murdoch’s time as the head of Fox News? “It is not red or blue; it is green,” that was his admission in court documents unsealed earlier this year during the lawsuit brought on by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News.
The two sides would settle for the exorbitant amount of $787 million, a monetary admission that Fox News did indeed cross the line with how it handled itself post-the 2020 presidential election. The network went to bat for former President Donald Trump, who claimed the election was rigged and tried every way to remain in power.
To know Fox News is to know that it made an interesting business decision to become the dominant news network that it is. They embraced and learned heavily into conservative and right-wing viewpoints, so much so that they became official government mouthpieces when the GOP was in power and the voice of the opposition when the GOP was not in power.
A private enterprise willingly becoming the government's voice was not fathomable in this country prior to Fox News’ existence, but the network did just that. During the Bush and Trump years, government officials would dart to Fox News for soft-serving and narrative-changing interviews.
The network would let false narratives percolate and spread, and when called out on them, it would simply erase them, offering minimal to no explanation for its correction. News gathering and reporting at Fox News is less emphasized than its opinion programming, which now dominates much of its schedule. The opinion side calls the shots at Fox News, as documents unsealed during the Dominion lawsuit have shown.
That business decision to maximize profits for his business unit, regardless of the outcome of its viewer base, see COVID-19 vaccine outrage and the January 6 insurrection, is the driving force and legacy of Rupert Murdoch.
Don’t expect much of a difference with Lachlan at the helm; green, after all, is what guides their moral compass.
(Bloomberg, CNN)
RECAP
Disney Selling ABC Could Be A Problem For ESPN
ABC announced this week that the NFL will dominate their Monday night schedule for the remainder of the fall 2023 broadcast season. The broadcast network announced it would air an additional 10 Monday Night Football games, a move forced on them by the prolonged Hollywood strikes. ABC tapping into ESPN is an easy fill for the network since they both fall under the Disney umbrella. However, with the recent news of Disney actively talking to two separate media entities as it looks to unload its linear and cable networks, a new problem could arise for ESPN. ABC is the home of the NBA and NHL finals, and in recent years, it has also aired the NFL draft. A separation of ABC from Disney could now mean that ESPN’s marquee events will not have a broadcast home, which could complicate existing and future rights. These sporting events reached a wider audience when broadcast on ABC, giving ESPN more leverage over its rivals when negotiating these rights. The NFL is certainly happy to know that its Monday night product would be available to a bigger audience than cable can offer as a result of ABC’s move. Cable operators were probably not happy, but that was what the Disney synergies brought, that unique flexibility, which could all go away should ABC be divested from the House of Mickey. (Associated Press, Front Office Sports, Awful Announcing)
Max To Offer Live Sports
This Wednesday, Max subscribers will be able to access new and existing programming from CNN as the CNN Max hub debuts. Live news programming is not the only content offering coming from the Warner Bros. Discovery streaming platform, as it announced this past Tuesday that live sports will soon be made available to subscribers. Beginning October 5, WBD’s catalog of sports, including the NBA, NHL, MLB, U.S. soccer games, and NCAA's March Madness, will be made available courtesy of a special hub living within the app called the Bleacher Report Sports Add-On. This add-on will be provided for free for a limited time, but come February 29, 2024, subscribers will need to fork out an extra $9.99 to enjoy these sporting events. The MLB post-season, 65 NBA regular season games, and 60 NHL regular season games will be offered during this free trial period before they are gated behind the additional paywall. With a younger demographic avoiding subscribing to a traditional pay-TV package, WBD hopes to use the Bleacher Report brand to entice this demo to enjoy programming that normally resides on its TNT and TBS linear networks. Max is already one of the priciest streaming services, with the add-free option costing $15.99; adding $9.99 would create a price point of nearly $26. WBD’s CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels believes that streaming networks are under-priced in their current state, so a new higher price point for Max may be WBD’s way of achieving its desired price point. Not happy with this move are pay-TV providers who must now question the high fees they pay for programming no longer exclusive to the distribution model. Disney has just gotten over a contentious distribution agreement with Charter, with the bone of contention being the high amount of original and current programming being infused into its streaming services. WBD better ensure it’s working with its pay-TV distributors to avoid a similar fate. (CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Variety)
QUICK RECAP
Awards: Fox Sports Eric Shanks, CNN's Wolf Blitzer, and ABC News’ Juju Chang were named Giants of Broadcasting by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation. (Broadcasting+Cable)
Award: MSNBC's José Díaz-Balart was honored with the 2023 Mickey Leland Humanitarian Achievement Award winner at the NAIMC conference. (MSNBC/X)
Award: ABC News’ David Muir will receive the 40th Annual Cronkite Award. (TVNewser)
In: Former ABC News executive Mary Noonan becomes UTA agent. (Deadline)
In: Rick Cordella has been named president of NBC Sports. (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
In: Dan Abrams signs new contract with NewsNation. (TVNewser)
In: ESPN names new executives to oversee NBA studio shows, Get Up, First Take, and men's college basketball shows. (Sports Business Journal)
In: CBS News reshuffles its editorial executives. (TVNewser)
In: Catie Beck joins Scripps News as a national investigative correspondent. (TVNewser)
In: CNN's Matthew Chance becomes chief global affairs correspondent. (TVNewser)
Programming: ABC News’ Impact x Nightline series returns for season two on Hulu. (TVNewser)
Programming: CNN congressional correspondent Manu Raju takes over Inside Politics Sunday. (TVNewser)
Programming: MSNBC relies on breaking news during the day, leaving opinion programming for nighttime. (Variety)
Programming: Fox Business announces programming surrounding the second GOP presidential debate. (TVNewser)
Programming: Robin Roberts gets a production studio at ABC News Studios. (ABC News Public Relations)
Ratings: CBS News’ 60 Minutes season premiere gets largest audience in two years. (TVNewser)
Ratings: Second Thursday Night Football game on Amazon Prime Video has a good showing with 13.9 million viewers. (Sports Media Watch)
Ratings: NBC News’ Dateline is the most-watched newsmagazine in Q3 2023. (The Wrap)
Ratings: Late-night Colorado win racks up huge ratings for ESPN with 9.3 million viewers. (ESPNPR/X)
Ratings: NFL on CBS is having its best start in 13 years. (CBS Sports PR/X)
Sports: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports signs multi-year extensions with Wayne Gretzky, Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter & Henrik Lundqvist. (Warner Bros. Discovery Press Room)
Sports: WWE's Smackdown from Fox to USA. (The Wall Street Journal)
Sports: ESPN is a must-have by cable subscribers, according to a Beta survey. (Broadcasting+Cable)
Sports: Patriot League will remain on ESPN in a multi-year extension. (ESPN Press Room)
Sports: Former NFL player and coach Jeff Saturday returns to ESPN. (ESPN PR/X)
Sports: CBS Sports Golazo adds a new nightly highlights show called Scoreline. (Awful Announcing)
Media Business: Washington D.C.’s RSN becomes Monumental Sports. (Sports Video Group)
Media Business: When Mark Thompson starts at CNN, his mission will be different from his predecessor - QR
Politics: GOP Rep. Ken Buck could ditch Congress for CNN. (New York Post)
Politics: NBC’s News’ Kristen Welker’s Donald Trump interview was poorly received. (CNN)
Streaming: Disney's Elemental is the most-watched movie of the year on Disney Plus. (Scott Gustin/X)
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video will be getting commercials now. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Profile: CBS News’ Jeff Glor on his broadcasting career from Buffalo to New York. (TVNewser)
Celebration: MSNBC celebrates 15 years of The Rachel Maddow Show. (TVNewser)
Legal: Smartmatic lawyer describes Fox News’ Rupert Murdoch as a “mafia boss.” (Insider)
Morning TV: CBS News’ Adriana Diaz announces on-air that she’s expecting baby no. 2. (CBS Mornings/X)
College Football: Are college games becoming longer cause of commercials? (Awful Announcing)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #134 - 2023