from the tick-tock dept
We just got done noting how there’s not much the federal government can do about right wing propaganda outlets like Fox News, given their protections under the First Amendment and the general limitations (both legally and courageously) at regulators like the FCC.
But there is one thing that’s likely to cause some serious trouble for Fox News’: the continuing rise of cord cutting. A huge chunk of Fox News’ revenues technically come from consumers that don’t actually watch the channel, but pay for it through traditional, dated cable TV channel bundles.
Of the 70 million or so traditional cable TV subscribers, only about 17 percent of those actually watch Fox. Despite very often not even being watched, Fox nabs $1.8 billion a year — about fifty percent more than it makes off of advertising — from simply having its channel in a cable lineup.
But there’s trouble in paradise. Cable TV cord cutting (ditching traditional cable bundles in favor of streaming or over the air broadcasts) set new records in the first quarter, with U.S. pay-TV subscriptions falling to their lowest level since 1992.
Between this, Fox News’ various defamation cases, the scandals caused by their former 8PM slot bigot and propagandist, and the erosion of market share at the hands of even shittier right wing propaganda channels (OANN, NewsMax), Wall Street investors are starting to get a bit nervous. Especially as “must watch” sports channels like ESPN more heavily embrace streaming:
“Fox News’s share of conservative news viewers is down to 84% from 94%. Cahall also noted that Fox gets 50% of its revenue from affiliate fees. He sees cord-cutting as reducing pay TV subscribers by 7% to 8% this year. He adds that if ESPN goes direct-to-consumer, cord-cutting could accelerate.”
As Cable TV continues to die, Fox News faces some significant hurdles. While outlets like OANN and Fox enjoy a ton of coverage regarding their influence, the vast majority of consumers really aren’t interested. The traditional, bloated, overpriced channel bundle has historically helped mask that fact, but as streaming choice expands, reality could provide a pretty ugly wake up call.
That still doesn’t fix the broader problem of right wing propaganda posing as news, but expanded consumer options will make it clear that most folks (especially younger Americans) genuinely don’t want to play racist conspiracy theory pseudo-news patty cake. With the party’s older voting blocks dying off, the Trump GOP will need to develop new ways to trick Americans into voting against their best interests.
Filed Under: cable bundles, cable news, cordcutting, fox news, propaganda, right wing, streaming, video
Companies: fox, fox news
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