Posted on 05/02/2017 1:09:50 PM PDT by drewh
Fox News Channel, as it's been known to cable viewers for more than two decades, is done for, Rupert Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff told CNBC on Tuesday.
Under scrutiny for the handling of several sexual harassment scandals against former host Bill O'Reilly and then-CEO Roger Ailes, Bill Shine resigned Monday as co-president. Shine has not been accused directly, but lawsuits have blamed him for a workplace culture in which sexual harassment developed.
Fox News President Bill Shine departs after meeting with then-President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York, November 21, 2016. Lucas Jackson | Reuters
Fox News President Bill Shine departs after meeting with then-President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York, November 21, 2016.
"Fox is finished. Fox that we have known for 20 years is over," Wolff said on "Squawk Box." "This represents kind of a cable blip. We're entering an entirely new era."
O'Reilly agreed to leave Fox News in April, nine months after Ailes was forced out. O'Reilly and Ailes deny the claims.
Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who accused Ailes of unwanted sexual advances, left the network in January and is now with NBC News.
Wolff, a Hollywood Reporter columnist, said the "unique chemistry" O'Reilly and Kelly had with their devoted prime-time audiences cannot be replicated.
"All that chemistry is gone because all those people are gone," said Wolff, whose 2008 book "The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch" is a biography of 21st Century Fox's executive chairman.
Ahead of Shine's resignation, conservative commentator Sean Hannity expressed support on Twitter for Shine with the hashtag #Istandwithbill.
Shine was at Fox News from the start, originally coming in as Hannity's producer in 1996.
"We will definitely lose Sean Hannity, if not in days in months," Wolff predicted.
The ratings have held up pretty well at Fox News since it was forced to shake up its prime-time lineup last month.
Tucker Carlson replaced Kelly at 8 p.m. ET and the popular ensemble show, "The Five," replaced O'Reilly at 9 p.m. ET.
Hannity stayed at 10 p.m. ET.
But Wolff thinks an O'Reilly-less lineup is "completely not sustainable," calling the troubles at Fox News "a wide open opportunity" for rivals who want to reach a right-leaning audience.
"All those ratings happened because [of] O'Reilly at 8 o'clock. You just have a fall off of his audience across the night. ... Now you start with a lower baseline," Wolff said. "We are just left with a network that has a significant penetration but no reason for people now to really watch it."
Wolff said the decisions to part ways with Shine, O'Reilly, and Ailes were driven by Murdoch's sons.
Rupert Murdoch, center, with sons James Murdoch, (R) and Lachlan Murdoch. Getty Images
Rupert Murdoch, center, with sons James Murdoch, (R) and Lachlan Murdoch.
James Murdoch is CEO of 21st Century Fox and older brother Lachlan is executive chairman.
"It is the decision the Murdoch sons wanted," Wolff said. "They don't want it tainted by Murdoch politics and ideology."
"I think it's the wrong decision from a shareholders' position," Wolff added. "This is going to cost them an enormous amount of money."
Fox did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
At the end of Rush's show he mentioned this and said the Murdoch sons are young and more liberal and are embarrassed by the Fox image and want to change it.
Hoping Tucker gets out and lands on his feet. I like him even though I don’t have TV/Cable in my home. I just stream it to a big screen.
Good thing for Fox that those rivals are a bunch of damn fools who will not take that opportunity. Too busy supporting the "resistance."
FWIW, I never cared much for BOR, so I'm not sure how much his departure will hurt Fox at the end of the day.
Lou Dobbs is the only show worth watching anymore.
I hope the Murdochs loose their shirts and have to go back to ranching Kangeroos in Aussie land.
FOX was finished on my TV years ago.
I like Tucker but he starts off every evening with some obnoxious left-wing shill so I switch to another channel. I like Lou Dobbs better.
At the end of Rush’s show he mentioned this and said the Murdoch sons are young and more liberal and are embarrassed by the Fox image and want to change it.
Whoever wrote this doesn’t even know when O’Reilly was on.
Exactly.
Like criticizing programs you never watch. Fox is not a conservative news outlet. They have a niche and fill it well. but conservative they are not.
Fox News did pretty well when it tried to be “fair and balanced” when everyone else saw their mission as mouthpieces for the DNC. We’ll see how their new business model of “MSNBC Lite” works out for them.
We needed a real conservative network anyway. Maybe the Fox guys have made enough money on Fox to create that network. Just ask to crowd fund it or sell shares to conservatives, you would have the capital in a month. It is not like it would not be an instant hit as every conservative out there would have the tv running on that channel constantly just to give it hits. It would be the only real voice for half of the US on the airwaves.
Finally. Haven’t watched fox since it was rumored the Saudis were involveded. I am just stunned that the women parade around half maked, then complain. I watch tucker on you tube when someone on FR posts a good one.
Constitutional folks need to innovate.
Fox News As We Know It Is Finished, Predicts Murdoch Biographer Michael Wolff
Probably true, unfortunately. Thats what happens when you put children in charge. Old Rupert Murdoch let his kids simply destroy a previously successful, profitable, award winning business that they had absolutely no idea how to manage and run. This will undoubtedly become a text book example of gross mismanagement and bungling.
“Fox News As We Know It Is Finished”
I strongly disagree. Fox News isn’t finished as we knew it, it’s just plain ol’ finished. Period.
So you agree with CNBC's assessment of the situation? Hmmm. I will wait and see. Personally I think BOR will be replaced by something more than the current lineup. I'm not ruling out Mark Levin.
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