WEBVTT - Porter Bibb Says CBS' David Rhodes Could Succeed Ailes (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>four percent. I'm Charlie Pellott. That's the Bloomberg Business flash

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<v Speaker 1>you're listening to. Taking stuff with Kathleen Hayes and Pim

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<v Speaker 1>Fox on Bloomberg Radio. Twenty one century Fox is the

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<v Speaker 1>parent company of of Fox News and Rupert Murdoch, the

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<v Speaker 1>eighty five year old media mogul who started Fox News,

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<v Speaker 1>stunned employees at Fox News Midtown Manhattan headquarters by announcing

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<v Speaker 1>that Roger Ales, the twenty year tenured head of Fox

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<v Speaker 1>News and Fox Business News, was out as the chairman

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<v Speaker 1>and chief executive. Mr Murdoch himself taking over Fox News

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<v Speaker 1>in the interim here to tell us more about the

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<v Speaker 1>news business and the challenges facing modern media, is Porter

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<v Speaker 1>bib of Media Tech Capital Partners. Porter, thank you very

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<v Speaker 1>much for being with us. First of all, your reaction

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<v Speaker 1>and your thoughts about the departure of Roger Ales. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>this was a shock that had happened so quick day,

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<v Speaker 1>but Roger was in. He has another eighteen months to

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<v Speaker 1>go on his latest contract with twenty one century Fox,

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<v Speaker 1>and at seventies six uh, Roger has told me and

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<v Speaker 1>other people he deals with that he's pretty much ready

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<v Speaker 1>to retire anyway. So I think that the big shock

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<v Speaker 1>was the fact that Gretchen Carlson's litigation against Roger personally

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<v Speaker 1>accelerated things to a fairly will, and no one including

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<v Speaker 1>me expected this to happen as quickly as it has. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>it really just took fifteen days. It all began one

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<v Speaker 1>on July the sixth. Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox anchor,

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<v Speaker 1>followed the lawsuit accusing Roger Ales of sexual harassment, and

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<v Speaker 1>that led to an internal investigation by twenty one century Fox.

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<v Speaker 1>What happens next? Who can fill Roger Ayles' role? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>James Murdoch, who essentially is the CEO of the company,

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<v Speaker 1>even though his brother Lackland is co chairman and his

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<v Speaker 1>father Rupert those executive chairman. They have all had some

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<v Speaker 1>misgivings about the lack of Fox UH to begin to

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<v Speaker 1>prepare for the transition to digital. UH. It's still basically

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<v Speaker 1>an old media linear television network. It's very strong, it's

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<v Speaker 1>enormously profitable. It's having a record year this year, probably

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<v Speaker 1>when when fiscal is finished, Fox News is going to

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<v Speaker 1>be up about eighteen over any previous earnings year. So

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<v Speaker 1>it's a very very important integral part of twenty first

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<v Speaker 1>centuries uh entire profit picture and the fact that every

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<v Speaker 1>everybody ever in the linear tell Vision network is concerned

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<v Speaker 1>about the erosion of audiences. Um and when you look

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<v Speaker 1>at the rise at Fox News is enjoyed. Yes, it's significant,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's minuscule compared to what CBS, ABC or NBC

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<v Speaker 1>News draws on a nightly basis so wonderful part if

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<v Speaker 1>you could speak more specifically about what the challenges are

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<v Speaker 1>for the division of Century Fox, well, thanks to Roger Ales, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>they have a premier position as as both a very

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<v Speaker 1>biased political news network on on the right hand side.

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<v Speaker 1>But Rogers brilliant stroke of genius was calling Fox News

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<v Speaker 1>fair and balanced. The He put CNN and MSNBC the

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<v Speaker 1>to our genemies of Fox News on the defensive and

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<v Speaker 1>forced MSNBC and to a certain extent, CNN uh and

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<v Speaker 1>to be I mean left liberal, uh politically oriented news

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<v Speaker 1>networks and the competit offering the other side of the

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<v Speaker 1>coin to Fox News. Fox Fox is going to continue

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<v Speaker 1>exactly as it is, but probably with much greater uh

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<v Speaker 1>omission of sexism of very uh good looking blond anchors

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<v Speaker 1>and certainly Roger ales innovative leg cam is going to

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<v Speaker 1>disappear very quickly. James Murdoch UH is known to have

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<v Speaker 1>a very different political perspective from his father. Uh he's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot more open minded and centrist than Rupert and

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<v Speaker 1>certainly more than Roger Ales. So I think you're going

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<v Speaker 1>to see not a lot of substantive change. They will

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<v Speaker 1>take their time. My guess is that they will choose

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<v Speaker 1>somebody to run Fox News, like David Rhodes who's the

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<v Speaker 1>head of CBS News, or some other major uh experience

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<v Speaker 1>qualified and highly regarded news director, and they will continue

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<v Speaker 1>to do what they do because even with the political

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<v Speaker 1>bias uh and and and the social bias that Fox

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<v Speaker 1>News has, it's a terrifically competent and very very strong

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<v Speaker 1>competing news service uh and and holds its own with anybody,

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<v Speaker 1>even the major broadcast network news businesses. Can you give

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<v Speaker 1>us your thoughts on some of the some of the

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<v Speaker 1>stars at at Fox, Megan Kelly, uh Billa Riley and

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<v Speaker 1>so on. Well, Bill Bill O'Reilly who had his own

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<v Speaker 1>problems with sexual molestation a couple of years ago and

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<v Speaker 1>was able to settle it in arbitration out of court,

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<v Speaker 1>So it didn't get the kind of publicity that Gretchen

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<v Speaker 1>Carlson's cases is uh lie to to end up becoming

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<v Speaker 1>a major news story in the public courts. But O'Reilly's

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<v Speaker 1>got the option of retiring now. Uh and several other

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<v Speaker 1>major players at Fox News have the similar option to

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<v Speaker 1>If Roger Rails is no longer running the network, they

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<v Speaker 1>can leave anytime they want. But but I think o'reiley

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<v Speaker 1>is probably going to retire and maybe follow Glenn Beck

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<v Speaker 1>into his own screening O'Reilly network. Thanks very much, Porter bib,

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<v Speaker 1>managing partner Media Tech Capital Partners. Follow him on Twitter

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<v Speaker 1>at Porter three. This is taking Stock. Coming up on Bloomberg,

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna be speaking with Tuna Amobi equity analyst SMP

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<v Speaker 1>Capital i Q and to talk about the shifts in

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<v Speaker 1>the overall US pay television industry. That's next