Killing "The O'Reilly Factor"

"Killing O'Reilly" could be the name of the next book Fox News commentator and host Bill O'Reilly writes.  O'Reilly announced on his broadcast Tuesday evening that he is immediately leaving on vacation, "I like to take time off around Easter, it's calming."  However, O'Reilly's announcement was anything but calming when it comes to the growing sexual harassment scandal involving him, as speculation increases that he will be leaving the network.   Fox News has said he will return April 24.

The New York Times published an article April 1 disclosing that O'Reilly and his network had paid $13 million to five women as settlements for sexual harassment complaints.   Since then dozens of advertisers have pulled their ads from "The O'Reilly Factor", which has been the network's highest rated program, regularly pulling in more than 3 million viewers.  Kantar Media reported that the program is now airing about seven national ads, which is significantly down from the usual 33 national ads.  

Last week Los Angeles radio personality Wendy Walsh, accompanied by attorney Lisa Bloom, said that O'Reilly had sexually harassed her.  The company says it is investigating this claim.   Meanwhile, Bloom told MSNBC Tuesday night that it is likely more women will come forward with additional allegations against O'Reilly.   O'Reilly has said that he is a target because he is famous, so he settled to "spare his children the pain of messy ordeals."  No other Fox News host has been similarly accused.  Perhaps the only other "famous" person to face such allegations is former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, who resigned last year amid scandal, but received a $40 million exit package from the company.  

While few noteworthy people have come to the defense of the temperamental O'Reilly, he did receive support from the president.  Speaking in the Oval Office last week, Trump described O'Reilly as a good person adding, "I don't think Bill did anything wrong."  He told the New York Times, "Personally, I think he shouldn't have settled."  Of course, the president has also been the target of sexual harassment charges, especially following the disclosure of audio from a video recording of him bragging about sexual assault. Trump later apologized for his remarks.

Fox News makes well over a billion dollars a year in gross profits.  The top rated "O'Reilly Factor" earns tens of millions of dollars in profit annually, and serves as a tent pole for those broadcasts adjacent to it.  O'Reilly's viewers are extremely loyal and his ratings have increased since the latest scandal broke.  But are the viewers loyal to the talent or to the Fox News brand?  Fox News executives will be monitoring the ratings during O'Reilly's vacation to see if his absence impacts the numbers.  They also know that ratings increased when controversial Fox News host Megyn Kelly was replaced by Tucker Carlson in the 9PM ET hour.

The sexual harassment charges are roiling the waters in Great Britain where 21st Century Fox is trying to take full control of Sky News.  The British regulator, Ofcom, is expected to announce by mid May whether it will let the deal go forward.  Ofcom could kill the deal if Rupert Murdoch and the company does not meet the standard of "fit and proper" owners, which can include any relevant misconduct.   Murdoch is still damaged by a hacking scandal in England which led a parliamentary committee to find in 2012 that he is "not a fit person to exercise stewardship of a major international company." 

Murdoch is also seeking to ease regulatory restrictions in Washington, where politicians are especially susceptible to public opinion.  Already New York City Public Advocate Letitia, who has led protests at Fox News headquarters, has sent letters the the city's Commission of Human Rights and the Securities and Exchange Commission requesting they investigate sexual harassment at the network.   Meanwhile, Fox News is being investigated by federal prosecutors to determine whether it broke any securities laws with its harassment settlements.

For the most part, Fox News has supported President Donald Trump.  Rupert Murdoch sees opportunity for his business interests because of a Trump presidency, and both men like nothing more than winning.  But, like Trump, some of Murdoch's children have a more moderate approach.   New York Magazine reporter Gabriel Sherman reports that a senior Fox News staffer said, "It's up to the family."  Sherman reports two Fox News sources say 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch wants O'Reilly out, while his brother, Lachlan, and father Rupert "are more inclined to keep him."

Donald Trump once famously said, "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters."   But the invincible Bill O'Reilly has lost advertisers and his program will take a huge financial hit.  At this point, advertisers clearly have a greater sense of social responsibility than does Fox News.  What do the O'Reilly settlements and the Ailes termination say about the corporate culture at Fox News?   

Fox News must rid itself of the stigma associated with this well established pattern and all of its bad actors. As the leading cable news channel, which serves millions of viewers every day, Fox News must act responsibly by making a powerful statement that sexual harassment is unacceptable.  

Killing "The O'Reilly Factor" and terminating Bill O'Reilly would be an important first step for 21st Century Fox.  

CNN Struggles

"The news is the star," was the driving vision of founder Ted Turner when he created CNN in 1980.  And that was especially true for a fledgling 24-hour cable news channel that had no competition.  But now that news has become largely a commodity that is available instantly and distributed on the Internet, mobile devices, cable news channels, broadcast television and radio, CNN is struggling for viewers.  

Unless there is a major news event, most people are not heavy news consumers.   Those who do regularly watch news tend to be older and very passionate about issues affecting this country.  For instance, on a typical weekday about 5 million people watch cable news at 8pm.  That means about 305 million Americans are doing something else.

Cable news ratings can go up if viewers increase the amount of minutes they watch a cable news program, or they increase the number of nights they tune in each week.  A typical CNN viewer is likely to watch a program for only a few minutes, usually at the top of each hour.  Of course, many potential CNN viewers don't even tune in if there is no major breaking news to check on. 

On the other hand, Fox News has created program franchises around well-known commentators, many of whom have had successful talk radio careers.  Fox News viewers, who are most passionate about their politics, tend to be heavy viewers.  They watch Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity for more minutes each hour, and more frequently each week than typical news consumers.  Even when there is no major news, Fox News viewers tune in because the star is the news.  To a lesser extent, MSNBC benefits from a passionate audience that tunes in to hear liberals Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell and Ed Shultz. 

However, both of these networks build interesting programs around their stars.  The content is thoughtfully shaped, and the programs are well produced, to keep the viewers engaged to the end and drive them on to the following program.  Program flow between 5pm and 11pm is very important factor.  Cable news networks like to build their viewership and deliver ever-increasing numbers to the next time slot.  Prime time is the most valuable real estate for advertisers and programmers.  That's where the real money is.

When major news breaks out, a large number of viewers still tune first to CNN.  They have a global organization that consistently provides great breaking news coverage.  But major news breaks out only a few days a year, and Fox News and MSNBC are cutting into CNN's advantage.  Adding to the rating's challenge, CNN has too frequently also shuffled talent and programs, to no avail.  CNN's cable fees and advertising revenue have held up to some extent because CNN is bundled with other Time Warner properties, but there is heavy downward pressure.  For CNN, this has been an "annus horribilis."

CNN has fallen and they can't get up.  Worse, this just in, they have hired Chef Anthony Bourdain to do a weekend show.  Huh?  And there is word that CNN will increase its international news.  Noble, but the problem is that, as important as it can be, regretfully most international news fails to attract viewers.  Of course, viewers will watch the Arab Spring, the Tiananmen Square student uprising, the Iraq War or the senseless slaughter of Syrian children for a few days.  But even loyal news viewers are more likely to watch news that directly affects them. 

When it comes to revenue, morning joins prime time as the most important time periods for cable.  Daytime and weekends are much less important.  So programmers focus resources and key personnel around these time periods. CNN has many fine journalists in their employ.  But many are miscast or not used properly. 

Soledad O'Brien now anchors the latest version of CNN's morning show.  O'Brien is a smart, experienced anchor who happens to be extremely nice.  But in her new program she has apparently been coached to be more confrontational and aggressive.  Consequently, the program is very hard to watch.  Anderson Cooper is the biggest star CNN has, but he is being mismanaged.  Cooper is a terrific journalist who is great broadcasting live from the frontlines of breaking news.  But his impact has been diluted because his CNN program is rerun an hour after its first airing.  What works best are his hard-hitting investigative pieces.   What works worst is the fact that he is anchoring poorly produced afternoon talk show that undermines what is best about Cooper.  

John King and Wolf Blitzer are both great reporters, but neither is a strong anchor.  And even they are dragged down by weak program production, a problem for most CNN programs.  Their shows fail to grab viewers at the top and drive them through the full hour.  The openings are weak, the teases are indifferent, and content is too frequently repeated.  Often any sense of urgency feels manufactured and hyped throughout, making almost anything "Breaking News." 

Experts or commentators are paired in mindless "he said-she said" debates, to quote NYU professor Jay Rosen.  Last year Rosen wrote, "But too often, on-air hosts for the network will let someone from one side of a dispute describe the world their way, then let the other side describe the world their way, and when the two worlds, so described, turn out to be incommensurate or even polar opposites, what happens?… CNN leaves it there. Viewers are left stranded and helpless. The network appears to inform them that there is no truth, only partisan bull. Is that real journalism?" 

These might be some of the problems that Turner Broadcasting President and CEO Phil Kent recently called, "self inflicted."  Last month he admitted, "We haven't put the best shows on the air."  That's for sure, and nothing erodes viewer loyalty more quickly than consistently poor shows.  No matter, given CNN's mission to play the news right down the middle, it will be impossible for them to catch up with Fox News whatever steps they take.    But CNN can regain some of its viewers with more original reporting, better writing and story-telling, more relevant stories, faster pacing, impactful investigative reports, interviews that challenge talking points and spin, commentators that add value, better written teases, intros, tags—in other words, give the viewer a reason to be engaged.   And do all this while fully leveraging social media and the many platforms of Turner and Time Warner.

Clearly, CNN is about to make a management change—probably after the November elections.  But it should immediately improve the quality of its day-to-day production, and honestly evaluate its programming strategy, anchors and other key talent around a clear mission statement and purpose.  

It won't be easy, but remember thirty years ago it wasn't easy for Ted Turner and his pioneering CNN team.