Posted on 04/25/2023 11:40:04 AM PDT by Heartlander
Why would Fox News fire its most popular host? On average, one million additional people tuned into Tucker Carlson every night than to the Fox programs before and after his show. He drew four times as many viewers as the 8PM show on CNN, Anderson Cooper 360°. He was the leading draw on Fox’s streaming service, and there is no rising star at the network expected to take his seat.
It wasn’t a lack of success that pushed out Carlson, so we are left to speculate why Fox fired their lead anchor. It could have been a battle of egos between Carlson and the Murdochs. Carlson may have threatened to run programming that they disfavored regarding the tapes from January 6, the recent settlement with Dominion, or the coverage of Donald Trump.
Any of these explanations would indicate that ego triumphed over financial sense in the boardroom. Carlson is a revenue driver, and the company’s stock tanked after the announcement on Monday.
But what if there was a rational economic explanation for his firing? What if the people who own Fox have far more interest in neutering criticism of their other economic holdings than they do in the success of Fox’s television department?
Last Wednesday, Carlson opened his show with an attack on the pharmaceutical industry’s manipulation of the news media.
“Sometimes you wonder just how filthy and dishonest our news media are,” Carlson started. “Ask yourself, is any news organization you know of so corrupt that it’s willing to hurt you on behalf of its biggest advertisers?”
Carlson then attacked the news media for taking “hundreds of millions of dollars from Big Pharma companies” and promoting “their sketchy products on the air and as they did that, they maligned anyone who was skeptical of those products.”
Five days later, Carlson was fired. Perhaps, his stardom was not large enough to overcome the issue that he described.
Beyond MyPillow, Fox News’ largest advertisers include GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Novartis, and BlackRock.
Vanguard is the largest institutional owner of Fox Corporation, holding a 6.9 percent stake in the company. BlackRock owns an additional 4.7 percent.
Vanguard and BlackRock are the two largest owners of Pfizer. Combined, they own over 15 percent of the company.
Vanguard and BlackRock are the two largest owners of Johnson & Johnson. Combined, they own over 14 percent of the company.
Vanguard and BlackRock are the second and third largest owners of Moderna. Combined, they own over 13 percent of the company.
Perhaps, you may be noticing a trend.
Vanguard and BlackRock’s holdings in Fox amount to less than $750 million. Their investments in Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Merck amount to over $225 billion.
When Carlson attacked the pharmaceutical industry, he was attacking the same funds that owned his network. But those investments in Big Pharma were 300 times larger than their equity in Fox. Carlson may have stepped on a landmine, speaking the unspeakable against the intertwined economic interests of the world’s most powerful companies.
As pharmaceutical companies took over public policy during Covid, they dedicated significantly more money to advertising and marketing than research and development (R&D).
In 2020, Pfizer spent $12 billion on sales and marketing and $9 billion on R&D. That year, Johnson & Johnson devoted $22 billion to sales and marketing and $12 billion to R&D.
The industry’s efforts were rewarded. Billions of dollars in advertising resulted in millions of Americans tuning into programming sponsored by Pfizer. The press promoted their products and seldom mentioned Big Pharma’s history of unjust enrichment, fraud, and criminal pleas.
Upon the release of Pfizer’s 2022 annual report, CEO Albert Bourla stressed the importance of customers’ “positive perception” of the pharmaceutical giant.
“2022 was a record-breaking year for Pfizer, not only in terms of revenue and earnings per share, which were the highest in our long history,” Bourla noted. “But more importantly, in terms of the percentage of patients who have a positive perception of Pfizer and the work we do.”
Carlson committed the media sin of attacking that positive perception, and it may have caused his firing. Regardless, the facts demonstrate a chilling indication that legacy media remains beholden to Big Pharma, and their programming requires the approval of the figures that they are supposed to hold accountable.
Here is his broadcast five days before he was fired.
VIDEO - Tucker Carlson: It is hard to believe this is happening
FCC, Biden Administration and the Dominion lawsuit. Also likely will mean that Levin, Hannity and Greg Gutfield will not get contract renewals and be bought out.
Gutfeld! is the #1 late night show on TV. If they dump him, Fox viewership will be lower than CNN.
Speculate? It's the same reason why Bud Lite went all transgered. It's the same reason why Disney promotes anti-family values. It's the same reason why Hollywood produces filth and trash instead of family friendly movies that win awards and make money.
Nothing matters, not money, ratings or consumers. Nothing except pushing, pushing, pushing the queer, deviant, destructive agenda.
Perhaps Tucker will dig much deeper when he finds a new outlet.
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Logical expectation is for the stock to continue to drop, surrounded by uncertainty about Murdock’s judgement and markets hate uncertainty. They will lose “My Pillow” but may gain other mainstream ad buyers who avoided Fox News because it was too conservative in the past. Lots depends on whether they can yank another Tucker out of their hat and my guess is they can’t, and will flounder.
That could trigger a buyout offer and given his age and probable state of mind, Murdoch and Spawn might just take it. That could be good, but more likely won’t be and will just consolidate the media enemy forces.
““Sometimes you wonder just how filthy and dishonest our news media are,” Carlson started. “
Sharp tongue but you need to see his recent speech at Heritage Foundation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKUA-D209pI
The link was posted here earlier by someone else.
It’s still all money based. We live under fascism. The Government is getting money back to these corporations through other channels in exchange for playing by the new rules.
Hint: the money is coming from the wealth of the middle class that is being intentionally destroyed to create a huge new impoverished underclass, with the fascists at the top.
Without the perception, right or wrong, that Fox is to some degree conservative there will be nothing to distinguish it from CNN, NBC, MSNBC, etc. It’ll be just another member of the woke choir. Thus no reason to watch it. Even for the wokesters.
Suzanne Scott is just as empty-headed as Alissa Heinerscheid. Two dim-bats who will end up destroying their companies because they lack common sense.
After the 2020 election, viewers rebelled and FNC ran third in that group. Deja-vu again?
Fox Snooze is the controlled opposition. Tucker Carlson had become the uncontrolled opposition so he had to go.
These FN quadrillion dollar hedge funds, we made the rich not hey are f ing us all
Big pharma is so powerful that trump gave them billions while he declared non essential workers stay home. People died alone in hospitals and homes, no family and no funeral.
But oh no… was the deep state boogeyman who kept the most powerful man in the world, POTUS on a leash.
85% of Americans took the vax.
That is holocaust level obedience without question.
They are erasing you. Republicans are helping along with the next move.. the feds digital currency passed by several republican governors.
Later
To bad more people didn’t see the link it would wise up many to the reality we live in to many don’t take the time to stop and think or question everything about the facts from fiction.
To much TV or movies it’s something that blocks them.
Sample Case: 2020 election one of many events
Pretty sure Levin just signed a new 4 year deal.
This is less about Big Pharma than it is about the manufacturers of RCV-enabled voting machines and the role they all played in stolen elections.
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