October 23, 2006

Personality Contest

At the 10-year mark, Fox News Channel turns to its emotional stars to keep newshounds from fleeing to the Internet.

By Catherine Applefeld Olson, CableWorld Magazine

Fox News Channel executive producer Suzanne Scott isn’t particularly interested in dissecting the recent on-camera imbroglio between former President Bill Clinton and Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace. After all, Clinton’s accusation of a “conservative hit job” over a line of questioning was jolting but certainly not unprecedented for the News Corp.-owned network.

Despite strong consensus that the network is right-leaning—or more likely because of it—since launching to 17 million households in October 1996, FNC has toppled CNN from the cable news pinnacle. FNC pulled an average 37,000 daily viewers in April 1997, the first month it was rated by Nielsen Media Research. This September FNC’s 814,000 daily viewership overshadowed CNN’s 503,000.

Still, FNC’s ratings are down 28% from this time last year, according to Nielsen; CNN and MSNBC’s ratings have slid as well during the same period. “What’s become increasingly challenging over the past 10 years is that the Internet has exploded, and we’re trying to create programming that caters to those viewers who have other places to go now,” Scott says.

“People are looking for information, and talking heads are only so engaging. You’re going to see some migration of consumers to alternative media,” says Adi Kishore, Yankee Group’s director of global media and entertainment.

FNC’s bet is that its reliance on strong personalities will help it mitigate viewer defections, Kishore says. “O’Reilly is not news—he’s O’Reilly. It’s almost like watching Oprah. It’s harder to create that experience online.”

As part of its 10th anniversary celebration, FNC is playing up the personalities in an attempt to reaffirm its self-appointed role as America’s network. On tap is   a 10-city tour that includes taping shows like The O’Reilly Factor at landmark venues.

The network is also stirring the programming pot. Changes include giving Jane Skinner of Fox & Friends her own hourlong daytime show and bumping co-host E.D. Hill to the Fox News Live anchor team. FNC recently redesigned its website, adding a page of homemade news snippets provided by Internet hot spot YouTube.

“When we launched we didn’t look like anything else out there,” Scott says of FNC’s trend-setting graphical presentation and emotional appeal. “We also hired talent that people would want to watch at night and created stars out of them.”

THE DECADE THAT WAS: Fox News Channel at 10: Thank You America! ran Oct. 8 as part of the net’s anniversary celebration.