Industry gossip on the Trump/Fox matter (explaining O’Reilly’s behavior):
While the debate among a couple of high-profile personalities rages in front of the camera, we hear that there is an even uglier battle going on behind the scenes! What are they fighting about? Tens of millions of dollars! Here’s the deal: Advertisers paid a certain rate to advertise on a certain TV show based on a variety of factors (network, time slot, audience size, demographics, etc.) In the case of the Super Bowl, advertisers don’t make their buys contingent on any one athlete playing in the game. However, in the case of our show, the players – and one player in particular – matter a lot. If the star player doesn’t show, the audience size may shrink drastically, not only for the show itself, but for pre- and post-shows as well. Network executives are refusing to bend to the star’s demands to ensure his attendance. Angry advertisers are threatening to pull out of ad buys if network execs don’t deliver the star and the audience. Everybody is unhappy and yelling at each other. What’s at risk? Almost $20 Million!
$20 million is 2% of Fox News’ annual revenues. That’s assuming Fox doesn’t make a dollar during tomorrow night’s debate. Even Trump’s burger flipping sycophants can survive a 2% loss in their annual income.