Besides Phone Hacking Problems - Murdoch's Fox News Problems

[titaniumsalute]

Fox News is a MAJOR profit generator for News Corp. The big problem right now is simply ratings. The link to the report shows both Fox News ratings down combined with CNN and MSNBC up. The big problem here is that Fox News has some HUGE salaries between O'Reilly, Hannity, Van Sustern, etc. When ratings drop it costs in advertising dollars. Ad agencies buy ad time based on ratings points. When the points are lower...the ad dollars are lower. However, salaries stay constant meaning Fox News is delivering less profit.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/29/989760/-Fox-News-Continues-Ratings-Slump-While-Competition-Gains

[AndyTiedye]

1. They Would Fund Faux News Even If It Lost Tons of Money

The purpose of Faux Noise is not profit, it is to tell the wingnuts what to think.

[Vinnie From Indy]

3. +1000

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. Nobody in the Soviet leadership really worried how much Pravda cost

but it couldn't save them when everyone just stopped believing it. I'm hoping that the decline in ratings at FOX is similar.

[Selatius]

6. So very true nt

[titaniumsalute]

7. That's partially true.

But stock holders do care about profit. If a combination of serious wrong doing PLUS lower profits hits the markets...stock holders sell. The more they sell, the more the stock price drops. The more it drops, the less the company is worth and the less they can buy/control.

[AndyTiedye]

8. Interesting that the Stock Hasn't Dropped Much

NWSA hit a low in early 2009, with the recession and Obama's victory both weighing heavily upon them.

The stock is selling for three times as much now, and seems to have only lost 10% despite the
phone-hacking scandal, the closure of News of the World, and the arrest of many executives.

Who or what is keeping the stock up?

[titaniumsalute]

9. 10% is actually a pretty big drop.

You're really only talking one week. Rebekah Brooks hadn't resigned until the weekend and neither had the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. They did that over the weekend and then Ms. Brooks was also arrested. I would look for the stock to hit a bigegr drop this week. If it drops another 10% that would be a 20% drop in two weeks. That is billions and billions of dollars.

Here's a link to how much that drop represents. http://www.businessinsider.com/news-corp-murdoch-7-billion-value-2011-7

Also remember that Murdoch had to call off his biggest buyout ever (costing him money) and had to engage in a $5 billion stock buyback. OUCH!

[AndyTiedye]

10. It Dropped More When Obama Won the Election

[DCKit]

2. I'm weeping for Faux. Faux weeping? nt

[AndyTiedye]

5. Here

:nopity::nopity::nopity::nopity:

[white cloud]

11. Going to be some mad

Saudi's