Posted on 06/27/2006 9:27:22 AM PDT by doesnt suffer fools gladly
Ailes 'Fuming' at Fox News Channel
Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes is reportedly "on the warpath” about his network’s recent ratings slide – and has given notice to staffers that he’s willing to clean house, according to a report in Broadcasting & Cable.
The cable news channel’s overall prime-time ratings are off 8 percent in the second quarter of this year, and down 22 percent in viewers ages 25 to 54. The first quarter was also disappointing.
Rival CNN is also down, but only 2 percent overall in the second quarter and 18 percent in the 25-54 age group.
Ailes is said to be "fuming” over what he views as complacency among staffers, according to B&C.
He feels production values are slipping and bookers aren’t aggressive enough, relying too heavily on the same faces.
A full-page "Now Hiring” ad that ran recently in a trade magazine asked, "Can you make the cut?”
Broadcasting & Cable reports that a Fox staffer said the question was not addressed to outside applicants. "That was aimed inside.”
An Ailes spokesman declared: "Anyone who displays launch-type intensity will continue to have a job at Fox News. Those who don’t will not. And that includes talent.”
I think this reflects the despair in the conservative movement. Fox News was exciting when it was part of the new conservative wave.
But, even with control of both houses of Congress, Republicans are an embarrassment. They can't kill the Death Tax, they spend money like drunken sailors, and they're unwilling to control the borders.
Fox viewers are tired of all the conservative rhetoric, whether it's on television, or in the halls of Congress. Everybody is just fed up with the whole spineless political class, and the commentators who report on them.
"For me, that's Greta, E.D. and Sheppard."
Me too ... enough of the Duke case already!
Agreed; Shepard, Greta and that lame Saturday crew have got to go. Lately, it's like watching paint dry.
Thanks for the info about the Judge and Brian - I forgot they had paired up.
Brian let's lost with ED over-riding all the time the guys have in the morning slot - it would be nice to see Brian complete a sentence once in a while.
And Laura Ingraham - she was fun on Imus - I stopped watching when she disappeared and he went liberal ... she is way too sharp for him to take on any more.
I hope someone is sending this thread to Roger Ailes.
well this is AMERICA ao in english we say they are all screaming FRUITS! ; )
I do think there is a need for tabloid TV, it seems there is an audience for all the movie star, murder, gossip, etc. I think when a murder occurs it may be news, when the killer is charged, that is news and the sentencing might also be news- but the rest is tabloid stuff and should not be hashed out nightly on the news for months.
Malkin is my hero! She is smarter than most people and has a soft way of getting her message across without whipping anyone.
Doocy is so darned silly, sometime's it's a turnoff. And he has this tendency to say "mmmmhmmm" while someone is talking that makes me think he's not listening, but rather thinking about his next question.
I used to like ED, then she went through a period of severe attitude, IMO, after she came back from the second child. I have noticed that she's relaxed a lot lately, and can josh with the guys with good humor, whereas she did it with an edge for quite a while.
Brian has a bit of the silly problem too, but with him he keeps you wondering how much is real and how much being silly.
I didn't watch Fox back in the day, but I would say keeping them all because they're original might not be the best thing. I do watch it pretty much every day.
A liberal-tarian coworker of mine says he's flipped past it, and he describes it as "two dumb guys and a dumb girl", which really cracks me up because it's pretty much true, or I could see how it would appear so. But they are so far ahead of anything the networks dish up that I still enjoy watching them.
Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful time in Paris.
I agree, for a while I was getting ticked at her, it seemed like she wasn't doing her homework and would make comments that did not fit or sounded really out there and wrong. She has improved some lately, I liked the old ED but she needs to sharpen up and not take the wrong track when she doesn't have a clue.
P.S. Those midwatch recasts are boring.
Greta's show is sooo boorrring. It's the same subjects and people every night, it seems. Get a life, Greta, amd try some important topics for a change.
Lets see Roger baby if I can in all my ignorance of television administration help you a little.
You have over the past year replaced many of the old hands that brung you to the dance.
Where is Linda from Dayside?
You replaced David Asman with Bill Hemmer.
The presences of men are slowly but surely replaced with news reading babes or metrosexual hunk wannabes.
I like to look at those babes but for news, they are more like Katie Couric (Fake but Accurate).
You seemed to have forgotten that your viewing audience is mainly from those hated right wing conservatives.
Roger ole boy if I want biased news and opinions from the Left there are plenty of other choices besides Fox such as CNN, PMSNBC, ABC, cBS and NBC.
Fair and Balanced to a conservative viewer is not hearing Allen Combs mostly illogical, no common sense rants and raves.
Just today, Martha has on such breaking news as Naomi Campbell who I would not recognize if she bumped into me at the local Motel 6.
Sometimes when a guest such as Col North on Dayside is explaining something important you cut him off and have on a worthless news conference.
Then what is with that Fox News studio B 3 inch banner on the bottom of the TV Screen.
Get rid of the wide banners as they are annoying, very damn annoying.
Well I am sure that basking in all your past glory that my idea for resurgence is trash can material.
Fox was a good thing but lately it is the Newsreader Babe’s Channel.
Like the Washington D.C., Republican Senate leadership you have forgotten your real base.
I am tired of those I support getting into my face and telling me, they really do not have any respect for my wants and needs.
But of course!
If you added in the labor costs, it'd probably be more like $10,000.
I second (or third) that motion! Sheesh ... if she's not repeating the exact same soap opera stories already done by Greta & others, she's breathlessly re-reporting 10- and 12-year old news!! Do we really need more coverage of the OJ Ford Bronco incident?
I catch the O'Reilly rerun on XM going to work if I missed it the night before. Another good reason to junk regular radio.
plus her presentation is extremely unprofessional IMO, that is even if i could get past that huge mouth of her's. i think she is extremely UNattractive.
You should check out Bill Conlan's latest article on Philly.com. An interesting Dykstra reference in there.
Sean Hannity needs his own show (he is under-utilized). We have to listen to Sean on AM radio to get his take on things, because it's not possible in current Fox format. They need to give Alan Combes the heave-ho. The very sight of him causes remote control channel change reflex.
If Fox persists in keeping Combes onboard, then they should pair him with someone equally liberal (Michael Moore, Al Franken, John Murtha, Ted Kennedy or someone to help them maintain their "fair and balanced" logo. Liberals would avidly turn on Fox for their fiction fix during that segment and conservatives would be spared listening to him and his like-minded loser liberals while we (by turning Combes off - which we already do) are spared the rants of Mr. Combes.
Bill O'Reilly seems to be walking on water at Fox. Only "premium members" are able to ask questions that are answered on air. Many of us (retired folks for example) cannot afford $4.99 a month to be "premium members" Must mean our questions have no value to Bill? Why do we have to listen to commercials and THEN listen to Bill O'Reilly's daily informercial for his Factor products? It's just another opportunity to channel surf IMHO. They could easily do those ads in closed-caption format and give viewers a better show without the product hype.
Brian is really smart. Maybe because he is the sports guy he has to play the role kind of clownish. He does not take any prisoners in his interviews. It annoys me when ED goes all schoolmarmish on him.
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