The 10 Most Powerful People in TV News…
TV Week’s Michele Greppi has the magazine’s 10 Most Poweful People in TV News. FNC’s Roger Ailes heads the list…
Roger Ailes is the man with the cash-green thumb that makes him a favorite go-to guy of Rupert Murdoch. He’s driven and inventive and demands the same of those who work for him, whether at Fox News or the Fox Television Stations Group-the latter a challenge that led to the conception in February of a new broadcast network, MyNetworkTV, in order to program and finance the programming of prime time on the Fox-owned stations that will lose UPN affiliation this fall.
He’s the only executive on this list whose news division revenues are regularly highlighted and headlined in the parent company’s earnings reports. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005, Fox News Channel advertising growth helped drive up News Corp.’s cable network division 15 percent.
He’s the only executive on this list whose programming claims 10 out of the Top 10 spots in the weekly ratings competition. Bill O’Reilly’s show is now just one of six Fox News programs that cracked the million-viewer mark for first quarter 2006. And young Shepard Smith, who won many new fans with his reporting on Hurricane Katrina, is the Fox talent most likely to inspire a bidding war.
We now know the crazy people are in control now don’t we. It’s scary!
Comment by me — April 24, 2006 @ 12:14 pm
Unlike other television executives who talk and talk and talk about what they’re going to do with no end results to point to, Ailes just does it and delivers.
Comment by anonymous-me — April 24, 2006 @ 12:57 pm
No one can deny what Ailes has done to FNC. They are a ratings powerhouse, with no sign of slowing down - and he deserves much of the credit.
Comment by Skippy — April 24, 2006 @ 3:32 pm
I wish Ailes would turn CNN around. There have been rumors that Court TV’s President is eyeing Klein’s job.
Comment by anonymous — April 24, 2006 @ 3:55 pm
Ailes is a visionary; speaking as a Democrat, I wish they had someone like him.
Comment by anon — April 24, 2006 @ 6:06 pm
Everytime CNN advertises 360 on Fox during one of Shep’s shows they just lose credability for me. Does Fox advertise on CNN?
Comment by daubermaus — April 24, 2006 @ 11:13 pm
daubermaus those adds are inserted by your local cable company. any dummy would know that..do you think that fnc would sell CNN ad time. or vice versa. Fox and Friends is promo’d on CNN by my cable company because a local bank buys ads during f and f.
Comment by Harry — April 24, 2006 @ 11:57 pm
I think this is an example of that old saying “The cream rises to the top…and so does the pond scum.”
Comment by tanne — April 26, 2006 @ 6:51 am