Posted on 11/21/2011 4:01:31 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Sarah Palin's announcement that she wouldn't run for president disappointed her legions of admirers — but it infuriated Roger Ailes. The Fox News chief wasn't angry about the decision itself. Rather, he was livid that Palin made the October 5 announcement on Mark Levin's conservative talk-radio program, robbing Fox News of an exclusive and a possible ratings bonanza. Fox was relegated to getting a follow-up interview with Palin on Greta Van Susteren's 10 p.m. show, after the news of Palin's decision had been drowned out by Steve Jobs's death. Ailes was so mad, he considered pulling her off the air entirely until her $1 million annual contract expires in 2013.
After the announcement, he called Fox's executive vice-president Bill Shine into a meeting. Shine is the network's principal point of contact with Palin. Ailes told him she had made a big mistake. "I paid her for two years to make this announcement on my network," Ailes pointedly told Shine. Sources described the episode on condition of anonymity, given the sensitivity of the relationships.
Palin is said to have made her announcement on Levin's show because she's been upset that Fox News has given a platform to Karl Rove, one of her principal critics. "She isn't happy with Karl," one Palin adviser told me. "From day one, he hasn't been very nice." Levin had become Palin's biggest booster in the conservative commentariat, and Palin is known for rewarding loyalists, and punishing her detractors.
Shine was deputized to handle the matter. He spoke with Palin's agent, Bob Barnett, and told him that Ailes was furious with Palin's move and that she was at risk of being "benched." Fox still had to pay her, but they didn't have to give her airtime. Barnett spoke with Palin and told her about the problem. After she apologized, he called Shine back and told him that Palin recognized the misstep.
But tensions between Palin and Fox haven't subsided. Ailes, who told Newsweek that he hired Palin when she was "hot," clearly hoped she would boost ratings. But beyond her prime-time commentary, Palin hasn't turned into the television asset Ailes had hoped. Palin's contract is up in 2013 and it's unclear what the current fracas will mean for her future on Fox News. Part of her appeal as a pundit was that every appearance on the network was turbocharged by the "will-she-or-won't-she run" speculation. She's now given up that chip to play. But Palin knows that she still has value as a gatekeeper to her grassroots base. A Palin adviser told me that she is planning to make an endorsement for a candidate in 2012. Palin, being Palin, is keeping it tightly held. "I have an idea of who it is," the adviser said, "but I'm not telling." What's clear is that Palin would be smart to make that announcement on Fox News.
She’s right about Karl Rove.
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Damn right she it. He was touting ROMNEY....AGAIN on Hannity this afternoon. I wanted to PUKE.
Good for her
What a load. No bias there.
Now now, is that in the contract or was it just implied?
TV people are genuinely obsessed with this sort of thing. As if the rest of us remember who got which scoop first.
The media is begging for “most misleading headline” awards...
Karl, bless his heart, is still somewhat the cocktail-Party Republican’s ever vigilant Cerberus. One needs no better proof of true Conservative values than his disdain.
“As if the rest of us remember who got which scoop first.”
I’m sure most people on this forum do.
I agree.
Rove and Ailes, as far as I am concerned, can engage themselves in self-fortification.
She ought to avoid Hannity like the plague, as well...he and Rove should get a room.
Those anonymous sources sure do get around, don’t they?
yes, she’s right.
I don’t know about her endorsing anyone for 2012 until after the contest has been effectively decided. Not that that wouldn’t help the candidate (it would), but I’m sure the MSM would have a pile of stories ready to go on that candidate to release at the same time and make Palin look dumb. This is why I believe she didn’t jump out and endorse Cain when he first shot up in the polls. She’s waiting to see who handles the media firestorm first.
She should do what she needs to do to be released from her contract... tell FoxNews to suck it.
Huh?
Rove was bashing New and Cain like Hell and then started talking up Mitt like he was God's better half.
Hannity confronted him with,”Sounds like you are for Romney.”
then Rove started huffing and puffing in loud pathetic mendacious denial:
“Oh no,nothing like that!! I was just...sorta...kinda...bow wow woof woof!”
Okay, let me toss this out there: Does Karl Rove strike anyone else as a closeted gay? I’m not saying he is, mind you, just that I don’t get a straight-guy vibe from him and I never have.
Yep!!
I wish he would have. Every time Palin turns up on Fox News, her supporters are reminded of how she screwed up by not running.
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