Ailes 'Fuming' at Fox News Channel

Newsmax.com ^

[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.”

[STARWISE]

I agree .. dump Neil post-haste ... and WEASLEY Clark, Marvin Kalblib, and Martin Frosty!

[STARWISE]

Oh and Julian Phillips and ELEANOR CLINTON CLIFT!

[Prost1]

No kidding!

I stopped watching Fox a long time ago with the exception of Brit Hume.

Everything else is CNN redo.
I have post the personel below. Juan Williams is one of
my favorite "regulars" dislikes.
Then there is Elenor Clift and the recovering drunk, Bob Beckel, and the not recovering drunk Susan Estrich.

In reviewing the names, a number do not seem to strike a position with me, which indicates they are newspeople and not necessarily propagandists. I include Newt because he is intellectually dishonest, thus a liberal.

Alicia Acuna - Lib
Dari Alexander - Lib
John Allen
Manny Alvarez
Jim Angle
David Asman
Bret Baier
Rudi Bakhtiar
Julie Banderas
Fred Barnes
Michael Barone
Bob Beckel - Lib
Lisa Bernhard - Lib
Jeff Birnbaum
Scott Bleier
Steve Brown
Patti Ann Browne
Greg Burke
Eric Burns
Brenda Buttner
Carl Cameron
Alisyn Camerota
Gretchen Carlson
Neil Cavuto
Steve Centanni
Linda Chavez
Kiran Chetry
Eleanor Clift - Lib
Jamie Colby
Alan Colmes - Lib
Todd Connor
David Corn - Lib
Bill Cowan
Claudia Cowan
Alfonse D'Amato
Janice Dean
Laurie Dhue - Lib
Steve Doocy
Tim Eads
Mike Emanuel - Lib
Susan Estrich - Lib
Harris Faulkner
Geraldine Ferraro - Lib
Donna Fiducia - Lib
Rick Folbaum
Trace Gallagher
Mike Gallagher
Major Garrett
John Gibson
Newt Gingrich - Lib
Marc Ginsberg
Jeff Goldblatt
Stan Goldman Wendell Goler
Rebecca Gomez
Lauren Green
Jennifer Griffin
Kimberly Guilfoyle
Jane Hall
Sean Hannity
Steve Harrigan
Bill Hemmer
Ellis Henican - Lib
Molly Henneberg
Catherine Herridge
E.D. Hill - Lib
Page Hopkins
Adam Housley
Juliet Huddy
Brit Hume
David Hunt
Jonathan Hunt
Laura Ingle
Carol Iovanna
Gregg Jarrett
Mike Jerrick
Peter J. Johnson
John Kasich
Phil Keating
Terry Keenan
Amy Kellogg
Greg Kelly
Megyn Kendall
Douglas Kennedy
Brian Kilmeade
Chris Knowles
Mort Kondracke
William Kristol
William La Jeunesse
Adam Lashinsky
John Leo
Rick Leventhal
Dana Lewis
Mara Liasson - Lib
Robert Lichter
Erik Liljegren
Molly Line
Martha MacCallum
Michelle Malkin
Robert Massi
Bill McCuddy
Dagen McDowell
Angela McGlowan
Thomas McInerney
Kim McIntyre
Carol McKinley
David Lee Miller
Craig Mitnick
John Moody
Burton Moore
Mancow Muller
Andrew P. Napolitano - Lib
Chuck Nash
Oliver North
Bill O'Reilly - Lib
Greg Palkot
Uma Pemmaraju - Lib
Julian Phillips
Jim Pinkerton
John Podhoretz
Brigitte Quinn
Ellen Ratner - Lib
Geraldo Rivera - Lib
James Rosen
Isadore Rosenfeld
Dennis Ross - Lib
Orlando Salinas - Lib
Bill Sammon
Thomas Sancton
Barry Schweid
Jon Scott
Bob Sellers
Jonathan Serrie
Eric Shawn
Caroline Shively
Marianne Silber
Jane Skinner - Lib
Shepard Smith - Lib
Tobin Smith
Gary Smith
Dan Springer
Andrew Stack
Steve Stone
Mike Straka
Cal Thomas
David Folk Thomas
Mike Tobin
Liz Trotta
Paul Vallely
Greta Van Susteren - Lib
Stuart Varney
Linda Vester - Lib
Anita Vogel
Chris Wallace
Lis Wiehl
Juan Williams - Lib
Brian Wilson
Georgia Witkin
Kelly Wright

[OnRightOnLeftCoast]

I have to agree with the sentiments expressed by you all. At first FNC was my station of choice since the Clinton years, in particular. Months ago it dawned on me the station was grating on my nerves and found myself tuning out frequently for the reasons expressed by you.

One of my personal 'where's the remote' times is when O'R and H&C -- Sean in particular with a big smiling 'Welcome back Rev. Sharpton,' or words to that effect -- give face time and credibility to this racist liberal loon 'Reverend.' Big Al never held a job let alone a public service job and yet a Prez candidate, and has never apologized for his race-baiting actions that resulted in the deaths of some, not to mention the rape hoax.

As to news quality, Senator Alan Simpson once told Fox's Chris Wallace that the Washington press corps seemed to specialize in "controversy, crap, and confusion". It fits well to what we get in news quality on TV.

Evidently for the "...stupid people--who constitute the grand overwhelming majority of this and all other nations--do believe and are moulded and convinced by what they get out of a newspaper [TV coverage]. -- "License of the Press," speech, 1873.

Nonetheless, the post by the blog host of 'One Hand Clapping' hit the nail on the head about the childish coverage we are subjected to and I've never forgotten it.

Years ago, speaking about his church congregation relating to the news coverage of the slaughter of school children in that hostage incident in Russia (underlining my emphasis):

"Only eight or ten people (roughly one quarter of those in the room) were aware that 340+ people were killed in the incident, half of them young children. No one was aware that some of the murdered children were shot in the back as they attempted to escape. Only one person was aware that very few of the children were allowed to go to the bathroom, most were not provided water, and some were reduced to urinating in cups and bottles, and then drinking their own urine, or pouring it on themselves to lessen the effects of the sweltering heat. No one was aware that a man was murdered in front of a group of children, after which they were told, ‘This will happen to you if you don’t obey us.’ No one was aware that some of the barbarians have been identified as members of the Wahhabi sect of Islam, and that many of the hostages were ordered to pray to Allah. Just a handful knew that many of the victims were Christian. Most of them knew that many of the hundreds of survivors will be maimed for life.

Why is this? Why are the important facts (the number of children involved, direct connections with radical Islam, the sadistic torment that was visited on the victims before their death or rescue … ) about this tragedy not being hammered home by the mainstream media?

Last night I watched about two hours of FoxNews (we report …you decide) while preparing this morning’s Sunday school lesson. What I saw and heard was very unsettling. In the two hours time (now mind you, this news report was occurring a mere twenty-four hours after the ‘resolution’ of the crisis in Russia) of news coverage, I saw maybe a grand total of five minutes coverage of the massacre in Russia – and that five minutes contained virtually no references to any of the facts mentioned above.

Other than occasional mention of President Clinton’s upcoming heart surgery, the remaining hour and fifty-five minutes was spent interviewing Geraldo Rivera and various other Fox correspondents, attired in rain gear, standing out in the rain and wind, and prognosticating about how hard hurricane Frances was going to hit Florida at any moment. These reporters were frantic -- in a look-at-me, aren’t-I-brave-standing-out-here-in-the-wind-and-rain? kind of way (maybe they should issue purple hearts for hurricane reporting).

They would point to the palm trees swaying behind them, or the boats being tossed about in the harbor, occasionally pick up a severed tree branch that had been ripped from a nearby tree, complain about the pounding rain and ferocious (if I hear that word one more time, I think I will lose it) winds that were battering them, and paint a grim picture about what was imminently going to happen to the area around them.

The correspondents’ (supposedly) conspicuous bravery, and humanitarian kindergarten-level advice and warnings (stay indoors, or find a nearby shelter, be aware that strong rain and winds can cause significant damage …) that were being dished out, for hours on end, gave the term overkill new meaning.

I’m not in any way minimizing the personal tragedy that many in Florida will have to endure as a result of the devastation caused by Frances. But let’s put things in perspective here. Hurricane Frances is an act of nature – and an act of nature for which the residents of coastal Florida must always be as prepared as they are able. Considering modern meteorological advances, we receive fair warning that such natural catastrophes are approaching. And, although material losses are usually significant (a sad fact in itself), very few lives are lost. And very few people receive life-long emotional scars as a result of the tragedy.

On a scale of human heartbreak, what occurred in Russia just a few days ago eclipses any havoc that Frances may wreak on the lives that she touches."

[MinuteGal]

Congratulations on a perfect post. It echos my thoughts exactly on the increasingly difficult, if not impossible, time I have when watching Fox News and, indeed, all news channels. The screeching, shouting, talking-over, stepping on lines etc. is just too much to take any more.

Add to that the experienced liberal pundits on a talk show or a panel who know very well how to fillibuster and use up the conservatives' time with little interruption by the host.

For years, the crafty Colmes has ALWAYS talked over Ann Coulter's every sentence and she appears inarticulate and ineffective. If you've noticed, Hannity seldom interrupts and says, "Let her finish".

Off the TV subject slightly, I turned off my radio yeterday when even Hannity's substitute gave all the time in the world for Charles Rangle to spout his propaganda and one lie after another without coming up for air. The fill-in host could not have answered this onslaught even if he was qualified as a debater, which he's not.

Rangle is a regular on the Hannity radio show. Radio host, Michael Medved, also gives hours of air time to anti-Bush, anti-war, anti-American spouters of evil. Fortunately, he's an excellent debater which lessens my resentment slightly.

I've become convinced that this "fair and balanced" crappola is put out by amoral TV and radio operators (including Fox), producers and most TV and radio talk show hosts just for the conflict of it all. They have complete disregard for the damage it's doing to our country and to our central nerwous systems. They just don't care. It's all about THEM......their ratings, their incomes, their awards, their standing in the pecking-order of their peers in the industry, and their prestige and power.

Thank God for Free Republic, Rush and Laura Ingraham.

Leni

[retrokitten]

I miss everyone, too. :-(

If I could I would send some of our rain your way. Thank God we are not getting what the northeast is getting, but we are for sure getting a more then healthy amount.

[Jack Black]

Dennis Miller? Bwahh haaahhh hah. Should the hire the Chimp that was his co-host on his MS-NBC show too? He already **GOT** his prime time slot (two if you count MNF) and blew it badly. Very, horribly badly if you watched the show.

[Sunnyflorida]

Fox needs more technical accuracy when it comes to science or geography. Less sensationalism. Look at the coverage of the floods. Just give the facts. Floods are about geography.

[MikeA]

There's no reason he can't re-tool and do a better job the second time around. If anything he'll have learned from his mistakes. Hell, part of his problem was probably just being on CNBC. Anyway, I think a light-hearted, yet issues-oriented show in the evening and bumping up the O Reilly re-run to an hour later would be a good thing for Fox.

[beyond the sea]

She stutters. ...drives me crazy.

It just may be a putt with you.

Try to laugh.

[Guenevere]

ummm, I'm getting the strangest feeling we've disagreed somewhere here in freerepublic land....

..you don't seem to like my posts.

That's cool.....We'll agree not to meet like this anymore, 'kay!

[floriduh voter]

Yes, Gibson's comb-back over is over. He looks great for sixty.

[hardknocks]

I'm glad to see Ailes taking a stand, to be honest. Compare that to Klein's (lack of) response over at CNN to their steady death-spiral in the ratings. There are dozens of reasons why FNC is the best cable news network out there, and foremost among those is efficient leadership.

I'm confident that Ailes knows what he's doing and will turn this around.

[BooksForTheRight.com]

It's because FNC has drifted left. Why put up with the noise and flashy appearance if the content is almost as left-oriented as that of CNN?
However, FNC's babes are better than CNN's.

[ameribbean expat]

good call on arthel neville, she was worth watching. heard glenn beck's radio show for about a half hour once, liked his producer more than i liked the host.

i think we're seeing a realignment of media outlets. very telling is rupert murdoch's recent move toward a daily distribution of his Times of London in the US. Murdoch's a shrewd businessman with a lifelong love of newspapers. he obviously smells blood in the water in new york and he's going to raise the stakes beyond just tagging the libs with his NY Post tabloid.

i'd like to see a more globally oriented conservative news network, somebody that could take on the BBC and Deutsche Welle.

[big time major leaguer]

Check out these ratings. FNC is kicking butt, except for Thursday when Larry King had Star Jones on. I can't stand Shep, but look at him, he's blowing the other guys out of the water. Gibson is the only one not winning his slot - I'd hate to see him put out to pasture, he's one of my favorite FNC guys. This table from Mediabistro.

The Scoreboard: Wednesday, June 29

25-54 demographic:

Total day: FNC: 251 | CNN: 152 | MSNBC: 76 | HLN: 75 | CNBC: 64

Prime: FNC: 408 | CNN: 265 | MSNBC: 140 | HLN: 114 | CNBC: 88

	5p:	6p:	7p:	8p:	9p:	10p:	11p:
FNC	Gibson:	Hume:	Shep:	O'Reilly:	H&C:	Greta:	O'Reilly:
	132	322	390	459	371	394	283
CNN	Blitzer:	Dobbs:	Blitzer:	Zahn:	King:	Cooper:	Cooper:
	151	163	150	210	307	279	187
MSNBC	Hardball:	Abrams:	Hardball:	Countdown:	Scarborough:	Cosby:	Carlson:
	82	87	89	167	157	97	114
HLN	HLN:	Prime:	Beck:	Grace:	Beck:	Grace:	Showbiz:
	52	72	55	122	109	112	181
CNBC	Kudlow:	Cramer:	Money:	Fast:	Cramer:	Deutsch:	Money:
	72	84	95	55	113	97	66

[KoRn]

"Mr. Ailes I have stopped watching FNC BECAUSE I DON'T CARE ABOUT NATALIE HOLLOWAY, THE DUKE RAPE CASE, OR ANY OTHER TRAGEDY TV CRAP!!!"

Same here. The only things I reliably tune into anymore on FNC are Brit Hume and Brian Wilson on weekends.

[sayfer bullets]

So 8 percent of FoxNews existing viewers went OUT with Tony Snow.

I agree with the consensus opinion on coverage choices. I'm not ready to give up the info-babes though.

No more left-sliding....

[BigSkyFreeper]

He feels production values are slipping and bookers aren’t aggressive enough, relying too heavily on the same faces.

He's right about that. Greta's show is predictable, and H&C bring back the same people on the same day of every week.

[BigSkyFreeper]

There has been a partial liberal bias creeping into FoxNews. Hence the ratings slide!

That I have no problem with. The only thing I don't care about liberals over is the fact they bring back to the table of discussion the same boring old pap. Liberals can't think for themselves, so they get their faxed talking points from some unknown liberal bastion and spew it all over TV.