I’ll bet the consultancy agreement includes a non compete clause to foreclose the scenario you describe.
Believe me, there are plenty of media companies who would gladly cover any non-compete or buyout clauses that are a part of Ailes’s current deal with FNC. Just a part of start-up costs for a new network.
Fox News, the network that was given no chance for success at its inception, contributes 20-25% of the annual profits for 21st Century Fox. Lots of media outfits would love to have a news operation that delivers just half that amount of profit, on the lean operating model that Ailes built at FNC.
Rupert better hope that Roger Ailes decides to float into retirement on his golden parachute. If he decides to get revenge against the Murdochs, he has the ability to bury FNC. Grab the prime time talent, and the best among the editorial and production staff. Find a media company with deep enough pockets, and voila, you’ve got instant competition and credibility and FNC would fold like a house of cards.
At age 85, Rupert is more worried about ingesting enough Viagara to keep Jerry Hall satisfied; don’t think he has the stamina required to run a 24-hour cable news operation, even with the executive team that Ailes built. His “boys” are nothing but boardroom thugs who would be lucky to run a weekly shopper in Brisbane if their last name wasn’t Murdoch. They don’t have the talent or ability to run FNC, either and they wouldn’t try—no one wants to go down in history as the idiot who killed the golden news goose who generated over $2 billion a year in profits.