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- President Donald Trump has slammed Fox News on Twitter and allegedly plans to create his own media business to rival the United States’ most-watched cable news network
- The president’s relationship with Fox News soured last week when the network was the first to call the state of Arizona for Democrat candidate Joe Biden
- Trump political adviser Jason Miller said the early call was an attempt to “invalidate” the election
- Now, an Axios report has surfaced alleging President Trump plans to launch an online news streaming service to rival Fox News
- The president will use his wide network of email and mobile phone contacts to give the service a headstart
- While President Trump is yet to confirm his intentions publicly, Fox Corporation shares tumbled more than 6 per cent overnight on the back of the Axios report
President Donald Trump has slammed Fox News on Twitter and allegedly plans to create his own media business to rival the United States’ most-watched cable news network.
While the president has typically had a happy relationship with Fox News, featuring as a frequent guest on the network even before he sat in the Oval Office, it seems the catalyst for Trump’s change of heart came from Fox’s coverage of last week’s election.
Fox was the earliest network to call the state of Arizona for Joe Biden — a decision that was, according to Trump political adviser Jason Miller, an attempt to “invalidate” the election.
President Trump allegedly called media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox News, on election night to complain about the early Arizona call. The network refused to change the call.
Now, the president has attacked Fox News on Twitter, claiming the network’s ratings have collapsed because it “forgot what made them successful”.
.@FoxNews daytime ratings have completely collapsed. Weekend daytime even WORSE. Very sad to watch this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there. They forgot the Golden Goose. The biggest difference between the 2016 Election, and 2020, was @FoxNews!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2020
While it’s true that Fox’s ratings tumbled after the election was called for the Democrat party — with Fox showing the lowest number of viewers of any network during Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ speeches — general daytime viewership for Fox it still strong.
However, according to a report from Axios, the president’s frustration with Fox News has led him to look into creating his own digital streaming network.
Outfoxing the news giant
While the Axios report did not name its sources, it claims President Trump has told friends he wanted to undermine right-leaning Fox by drawing its viewers to his own media company.
While it’s unlikely the president will go through the hassle and costs of starting a cable channel, reports are circulating he is considering a digital media channel that would stream online.
The media service will rival Fox’s own streaming service, Fox Nation, which charges users a US$5.99 (around A$8.30) per month. The idea is that Trump fans — who are typically Fox viewers — will swap over from the Murdoch giant to Trump’s new service, which will likely also charge a monthly fee.
The President allegedly said he would use his large network of email and mobile phone contacts to give the service a head start.
“He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it,” a source close to the matter allegedly told Axios.
Nevertheless, Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch told shareholders earlier this month the company will never shy away from competition.
“We love competition, we have always thrived with competition,” Lachlan said on a November 3 earnings call.
“I would say the only difference today versus some years ago, as our audience has grown and our each has grown, we see our competition as no longer only cable news providers, but also traditional broadcast networks,” he said.
“Fox News has been the number one network, including broadcast networks now, as I mentioned, through from Labor Day through to Election Day,” he signed off.
President Trump is yet to publicly confirm his intentions to make a rival media network. Still, shares in Fox Corporation nosedived as the reports began to surface lats night, losing over 6 per cent in one trading session.
