Collectively, the current talent line-up at OAN doesn't make 25% of what O’Reilly was making at Fox. If you want to bring aboard someone like Bill or Sean Hannity, you're going to pay a premium price.
And, if OAN really wants to compete with the big boys, they need to expand their staff and coverage capabilities; that means attracting more investors who are willing to absorb the losses that will come until OAN reaches their new break-even point. From what I've read, Herring doesn't have the resources of Ted Turner at CNN’s start-up—and the network almost pushed him into bankruptcy before it began making money. And Herring doesn't have a huge media conglomerate (like News Corp) that can absorb hundreds of millions in losses before it moves into the black.
That's not to say it can't be done. OAN is attracting a loyal audience and viewership is on the increase. Ironically, Herring is following the original CNN model in building his network: straight news coverage, using anchors largely recruited from local stations. Bringing O'Reilly and Hannity on-board would be a quantum leap that would attract an even larger audience, but it would also drive up costs. If Herring decides to go that route, I think he can find the investors he needs. The irony is that Donald Trump would be at the top of that list if he hadn't been elected president.
However, let's face reality. For years the average conservative like me has plopped on the sofa five nights a week for a mostly-satisfying line-up of news, analysis, commentary and food fights on Fox which is 53% conservative in slant according to a past study...or it was, LOL.
We loved and hated O'Reilly...I miss him deeply even though I would nicely trash him regularly over the 19 years I've been on this board for his squishiness and fence-riding.
However, he changed this past year, and I found that I found nothing major to trash him about any more. He made a good, not total, but good turn to the right on all the issues I care about...and then, poof, he was gone....the evening line-up was somehow not the same without him....and the cowardly Morlock brothers didn't stand behind their star attraction, dumping him without ceremony.
My point is that if Fox destroys itself as its doing, people want to be able to pick up their clickers and switch easily to another conservative network channel such as an OAN channel as easy as clicking from Fox to CNN and vice-versa.
Most folks want to stay on that couch and click away. They don't want to have to pay for Direct TV or pay a monthly charge for another network not listed in their "packages" or with their local TV provider's channel agenda....just to watch OAN. And they certainly don't want to to sit at night on a hard chair for a couple of hours in another computer/office-type room to watch OAN on streaming computers.
In other words, a new conservative network would have to be easily available with no extra monthly charge to that average guy on the couch with a clicker in his hand....and I hope folks get what I'm pointing out here when they admirably keep pushing the admirable OAN.
I'm a pime e example.....if a conservative network is not available on my clicker, I'm not going to subscribe to it over and above.
Leni
What O'Reilly WAS making at Fox is no longer relevant. What is relevant is what he is making NOW, with just his we site.
As the ratings at OAN improve, they can attract more talent. I wonder of Hannity's contract with Fox precludes him from making appearances at other news shows while still at Fox?
I hardly ever see commercials on OAN.
Lotta PSA announcements, but few actual sponsors.
Lotta upside if they catch on
Believe it or not, Pat Robertson's CBN News 700 Club - Christian Broadcast News has great potential. It's political correspondent, David Brody, was traveling with Trump o'seas - and appeared on Meet The Press in olden days of Tim Russert. Security / terrorism authority Eric Steckelbeck started out on CBN. Their Middle East reporter, Chris Mitchell, and Roaming reporter(s) around about are world class - and I can make that statement based on my years in network news.
Unhappily, Pat Robertson is letting aging catch up with him, and his son, Gordon Robertson, appears to not care a flip about news. Also, when Pat is on set, he gives commentaries on some stories; his perceptions are not what they used to be, and tend to wander into the mists of Avalon sometimes. 😩
The potential is there, but the future looks a bit bleak. Sad to see a top class news organization possibly fading to black.