http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2a8aa246-4dd7-11e6-88c5-db83e98a590a.html
Three of Fox News’ biggest stars — Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren — have clauses in their contracts that would allow them to depart if Mr Ailes were to leave the network, the two people briefed on the dispute said.
This means a core team of on-air talent could follow Mr Ailes out of the door.
Interesting, but where would they go? I can’t see any of the liberal networks racing to hire any of them....
That’s one thing about Fox News “talent” .... even if most of them are not particularly conservative, they are smeared in the eyes of liberal network executives and would find it difficult to land elsewhere, I would think.
And not just the prime-time hosts; the anchor team on “Fox and Friends” have the same clause, and it probably extends to key executives, senior producers and other on-air talent.
One reason FNC has been so successful is that Ailes has hired, developed and mentored a lot of folks who literally owe their careers to him. Before signing on with Fox, Bill O’Reilly had been a second-string correspondent at CBS and ABC, and a local anchor with a checkered ratings history in places like Denver, Portland and Hartford. Sean Hannity was a late night host on WABC radio in New York, with no previous TV experience to speak of. Greta van Susteren anchored a low-rated, midday program on CNN that focused on legal issues.
They became superstars because Ailes saw something in them and gave them an opportunity to succeed. They understand what Roger Ailes did for them and they tremendously loyal to him. That type of devotion is practically unheard of in the broadcast/cable salt mines; in many cases, an organization will cave (or protect) one or two top performers, and treat everyone else like garbage. The number of Fox employees who have defended Ailes is a testament to the culture he created at FNC—a culture that put the network on the top of cable news for more than a decade.
As I said on another thread, this kerfuffle is really about a long-standing, internal battle between Ailes and the young Murdochs. They’ve never liked Ailes and see this as an opportunity to get rid of him—never realizing they will literally kill the goose that laid the golden FNC egg.
Fox News generates a net profit of about $1.5 billion a year—roughly four-five times that of CNN, which has a much larger global presence. And Fox achieves those results with a staff that is 50% smaller than its nearest rival. That is equally impressive.
If Ailes is forced out, there are plenty of news organizations who would hire him in a moment, and the list of potential suitors might surprise you. Most media execs and CEOs are dyed-in-the-wool liberals, but they all like money and would salivate at the chance to replicate FNC’s success for their own organization, with Ailes calling the shots and bringing most of his talent line-up with him.