At the moment the news cycle moves at a fierce pace, top cable news executives tackle an unpleasant reality. The future of business has never been more uncertain. As one veteran executive argues, by the end of President Donald Trump’s term, CNN, MSNBC and, yes, even Fox News have new ownership as a power structure that defined the media for the past 40 years. The most likely below.
MSNBC is already set up to spin from Comcast and NBCuniversal and will join sister channel CNBC on Spinco, a cable-focused venture led by Mark Lazarus. Additionally, at Warner Bros Discovery, a restructuring has made CNN a “global linear network” division, doomed to future transactions.
Even Fox News, even with its relative financial and valuation strength, is unimmunized by speculation. Rupert Murdoch, who effectively controls Fox through the Revocable Family Trust, is trying to correct that trust in his son (and Fox CEO) Lachlan Murdoch Control. If that legal effort fails, multiple Wall Street sources believe Murdoch is working in sales consultations and finding ways to work with Lachlan to buy the siblings, and for the family empire Avoid public battles in inheritance style.
“Rupert believes there is almost no chance that he wants to leave planet Earth in the future of his life-stopping assets,” says Rich Greenfield of Lightshed Partners’ note in December. I wrote it on. “If Lachlan is unable to solidify control through the acquisition, it is likely that Rupert will try to sell Fox’s assets.”
Avid viewer and understanding why the cable news business appears to be on the edge of the cliff despite the fact that there is more news than ever before with the TV veterans and cabinet-laden presidents. It’s not difficult. As CNN CEO Mark Thompson told staff on January 23, there is a “profound and irreversible change” in the way consumers get news, and products need to reflect that.
These shifts are even more severe when you look at cable television’s problematic economics. Now, as young consumers primarily choose not to pay for television and instead choose to spend dollars on streaming platforms, the challenges that came with the cordcuts I know. Additionally, cable news channels have a higher percentage of cable audience declines (MSNBC viewers have been reportedly paying 33% TV households (33% less TV households), but for the past 10 years (A 57% increase), but business challenges remain tough.
The finances of cable news channels have traditionally been obscure and are buried in a large division of the parent company. However, recent honour and loss lawsuits against CNN have opened up these finances (or at least partial versions of them).
According to data disclosed at the court, CNN’s revenues fell from $2.2 billion in 2021 to $1.8 billion in 2023, with profits remaining strong, but they also slip rapidly. CNN won a net profit of $600 million in 2021 and $400 million in 2023. A CNN spokesman said, “The numbers represent plaintiffs’ interpretations of a subset of data presented in the lawsuit and do not represent CNN’s overall business financial data.”
The finances differ between MSNBC and Fox News (particularly with Fox, subscriber fees are much higher and audiences are significantly increased), but the overall trend line is still driven by the fate of pay television; The pain is felt everywhere. CNN’s decision to cut around 200 jobs in January is just the latest example.
According to multiple sources, this is all reflected in the “new normal” of talent trading. Like Rachel Maddow, some people have signed new contracts for less money or, in other cases, without wage increases (i.e. Wolf Blitzer of CNN and Jonathan Lemire of MSNBC). Additionally, among the well-known examples, Fox’s Neil Kabuto and CNN’s Chris Wallace chose to abandon their respective channels after being offered new deals that offered significantly reduced pay.
CNN Chief Mark Thompson is currently undergoing a prepayment presentation at Warner Bros Discovery held last May.
“I think what the network is seeing is, ‘The way we were doing things was great for us, but it’s gone and never coming back.’ “The younger generations are especially welcome to get news and information online. They enjoy podcast models, where people can hear unfiltered views of people through long form interviews, or on social media. I like short clips of people.
That reality is not lost in cable news channels that are already beginning to pivot accordingly. Thompson prioritizes vertical video on CNN, but on MSNBC, the surge in podcasts, many of which were hosted or produced by Maddow, has found a significant audience.
Sources from several outlets also say they are interested in contracting with podcasters and other digital native hosts. For example, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway’s Pivot Podcasts are in talks with several media companies, including CNN.
In fact, the podcast revolution has already found its way into legacy television products in aesthetic form, if not functional.
After Kabuto left Fox, the channel gave his time slot to Will Cain. Will Cain also hosts the company’s podcasts. His afternoon shows feature “signature podcast style” for each Fox, with a microphone on the desk in front of him, familiar to anyone watching talk shows on platforms such as YouTube and Spotify There is a format.
In a sense, for cables, lower cost wireless simplistic speeds were used to fill unwanted times. For example, before Joe in the morning, MSNBC simultaneously competed on Don Imus’ radio show. Now this format permeates far more advantageous time slots.
And, on the whole, news executives are rushing to embrace other media, entertainment, and understand how news fits into the future of streaming around sports today.
Thompson told staff that his channel’s purpose was to “transfer CNN’s gravity to a platform and product that is changing for the audience themselves.” Thompson says it will include new CNN streaming services and lifestyle-focused subscription products to complement digital news reports, but what looks like remains somewhat opaque. He added that WBD is investing $70 million in the effort.
On CNN, Thompson told staff that the channel’s purpose is to “shift CNN’s gravity into a changing platform and product for viewers themselves, and by doing so, we will make CNN’s future the world’s largest. “We’ll secure it as one of the news organizations.”
Sean Hannity will present Donald Trump at the Patriot Awards at the Fox Nation in December.
Meanwhile, Fox launched its Fox Nation streaming service in 2018 in many ways ahead of the game. The entertainment food is heavy.
Now I have decided to make the biggest leap of all of them. On February 4th, Fox said it would launch its streaming service by the end of 2025. Lachlan Murdoch said that his company is still committed to pay TV bundles, but “we want to contact consumers wherever we are. And obviously, it’s outside of traditional cable bundles now. There is a large population.”
Company executives have long claimed they can “flip the switch” and can stream the full lineup of Fox News, but the company needs to tackle the same questions facing ESPN There is. This year: How do you adopt one of the most profitable wholesale products of all time and set a price for retail consumers without destroying their business? If all pay TV consumers pay for all channels, companies like ESPN and Fox News can make billions a year. However, if you have a product that only appeals to fans of the brand, pricing and retention strategies are a much bigger problem to solve.
And on MSNBC, spinoffs can be a bounty of salvation. Until now, MSNBC’s streaming strategy has been focused on Peacock, NBCuniversal’s streaming service. But MSNBC, freed from its corporate structure, can grasp its own path in streaming, whether it’s a license transaction or a direct consumer offering like its sister channel CNBC. . However, the clock is ticking.
“They said, ‘Yeah, we’re making money now, but in 10 years, we won’t make more money than we are now,” Bogardus says. “So how can you stay ahead of the game? With more and more Americans moving to social platforms and online and user-generated content, we won’t lose 100% of our audience over the next decade. How can I make it like that?”
And despite Agita and anxiety permeating the newsroom, there remains a pocket of optimism.
Fox News has drawn comparable numbers from television network broadcasts since the election won around 70% of cable news audiences. It is an incredible feat of the era of cord cutting. FOX “has been burned out from the cable news competition,” CFO Steve Tom Chic removed at the UBS meeting on December 9th.
These numbers give you a runway to figure out what digital paths MSNBC and CNN may not have. Fox’s strong balance sheet also helps you be a buyer of digital programs and platforms. Working in “thoughtful M&A.”
Still, both executives and talent from other channels hope that the brand will not only survive or thrive, but there will still be a way to go. They argue that if they can grasp what products they appeal to their audience, the business can follow.
“If you look at Morning Joe, if you look at CNBC, you have an influential audience, so people come to us, ads come in, sub-prices come in.” “It’s keeping relevant It should be the goal of those who want to do it. Serious news sells and you have the right audience.”
The challenge is to understand where Pay-TV is a shadow of its former self, and to be precise, the world’s influence audience is in which it is making the bill.
This story first appeared in the February 5th issue of the Hollywood Reporter Magazine. To receive the magazine, please subscribe by clicking here.
