Bill O’Reilly is out at Fox News. This is excellent.
I’m going to brag about WHY he is out at Fox News. Not that he is out, but why. Because there is a significant point I want to make.
O’Reilly didn’t get pushed out because he is a serial sexual harasser, or because he called for the killing of Dr. Tiller. He wasn’t pushed out because he cost Fox News millions in lawsuits (he generated more in revenue than the lawsuits.)
He was pushed out because he didn’t generate *enough* revenue — this quarter. That, combined with advertisers not wanting to link their brand with his, is what got him pushed out.
Also, new management, the Gretchen Carlson lawsuit and additional pending lawsuits, all had an impact.
When I wrote this last week I ended with the line “What to do next about O’Reilly.” Hint- Institutional investors
As we can see the answer was: Get rid of Bill O’Reilly.
The ratings for a show can be huge, but if they aren’t making money, something needs to change. I looked at what the interested third parties (institutional investors) wanted, and what they didn’t want, and I appealed to them. Those people had more power over the fate of O’Reilly than even Rupert Murdoch.
But when people who expect their investment to earn money don’t get what they want, they act. The investors needed an excuse to get rid of O’Reilly, one that would fit into what they want.– which is more money– this quarter. As long as he generated money for them, he could keep going.
In firing Bill O’Reilly, Fox News sends a strong signal that sexual harassment will not be tolerated once it affects ad revenue.
— (((Jeff Tiedrich))) (@jefftiedrich) April 19, 2017
People like Murdoch, and the Mercers, are still willing to “invest” money in right wing media in exchange for pushing propaganda. Murdoch does this with The New York Post even though he loses $110 million every single year.
The Mercers gave Breitbart and Steve Bannon $10 million–with no expectation of them generating revenue, just the propaganda. The Heritage Foundation gives Rush Limbaugh millions now since most customer-facing advertisers won’t advertise.
But public media companies–with non-family stockholders–expect the shows to generate revenue. That is why back in 2005 I focused on methods to reduce the revenue the right-wing radio and TV hosts generated. Reducing the revenue the hosts generated, reduced their support for them. That is the equation.
As always, Star Trek has a perfect quote:
Ruk: THAT was the equation. EXISTENCE!… SURVIVAL… must cancel out… programming!
Paramount Pictures “Star Trek: What Are Little Girls Made Of? (#1.7)” (1966)
