40% of Americans are conservative; 40% are moderates and 20% are liberals. Moderates, for the most part, don't watch much cable news unless elections are coming. FNC is the only one with a conservative slant. Everyone else is battling for the liberal 20%.
Imagine if CNN decided to turn conservative, hire Laura Ingraham types and run interesting fare. It could crush FNC in months.
So why haven’t any conservatives with money created a truly conservative news network?