Variety's Peter Bart prays for a nastier political environment where one of the MSM's fondest dreams--a reversal of Fox News Channel's success--can come to glorious fruition:
Remember when network news seemed like the quiet sanctuary of the TV business?
Actually, it was not that long ago that the ground started shifting: Ted Turner reinvented himself as a bilious billionaire, then Roger Ailes decided the dictionary didn't understand the words "fair and balanced"...
...Ailes has had several years to relish his delicious domination of CNN. When it comes to pizzazz and showmanship, the churlish Ailes clearly gets the trophy.
But then there are some numbers and political portents to consider. Variety's sister publication, Broadcasting and Cable, estimates that Fox News still runs second to CNN in terms of advertising revenue and license fees -- $794 million for CNN to $574 million for Fox News. To be sure, Ailes' company is growing faster than CNN and is angling for higher license fees (especially if new deals with cable operators include a new Fox Business channel).
But will the increasingly polarized political climate cast a cloud over Fox's expansion? Ailes' competitors insist the Fox News audience is older, whiter, less educated and more rural than its rivals. Fox has a smaller proportion of urban viewers than CNN or MSNBC, the data suggests.
Support for the Iraq adventure is waning sharply along with the President's popularity, and the upcoming Congressional elections will surely exacerbate the political divide. These trends may enhance the loyalty of Fox's hardcore audience, but middle-of-the-roaders could peel away. Nervous advertisers may thus start looking for more clout in big cities and on the two coasts.
All this is speculative, to be sure, but if the political climate gets even nastier, Ailes may be tempted to return to his dictionary and check out his definitions one more time.
Peter Bart, slinging mud at Fox News while fantasizing about mudslinging bringing Fox News down. Even in the pretty creative annals of the MSM's down-with-FNC wishful thinking, it's a pretty original theory, and it's always interesting to see the multifocal ways those who resent FNC's success express their bitterness. But let's call Bart's scenario for what it really is: a) a revenge fantasy and b) just a fantasy.
Home »
» Peter Bart's revenge fantasy
