Fox News

The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owned by Fox Corporation. It is the most-watched cable news network in the U.S., and as of 2023 it generates approximately 70% of its parent company's pre-tax profit. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan. Fox News provides service to 86 countries and territories, with international broadcasts featuring Fox Extra segments during advertising breaks.

The channel was created by Australian-born American media mogul Rupert Murdoch in 1996 to appeal to a conservative audience, hiring former Republican media consultant and CNBC executive Roger Ailes as its founding CEO. It launched on October 7, 1996, to 17-million cable subscribers. Fox News grew during the late 1990s and 2000s to become the dominant United States cable news subscription network. By September 2018, 87-million U.S. households (91% of television subscribers) could receive Fox News. In 2019, it was the top-rated cable network, averaging 2.5-million viewers in prime time. Murdoch, the executive chairman since 2016, said in 2023 that he would step down and hand responsibilities to his son, Lachlan. Suzanne Scott has been the CEO since 2018.

It has been identified as engaging in biased and false reporting in favor of the Republican Party, its politicians, and conservative causes, while portraying the Democratic Party in a negative light. Researchers have argued that the channel is damaging to the integrity of news overall, and acts de facto as the broadcasting arm of the Republican Party. Since its formation, the channel has politically shifted further rightwards over time, and by 2016 became solidly pro-Trump.

The channel has knowingly endorsed false conspiracy theories to promote Republican and conservative causes. These include, but are not limited to, false claims regarding fraud with Dominion voting machines during their reporting on the 2020 presidential election, climate change denial, and COVID-19 misinformation. It has also been involved in multiple controversies, including accusations of permitting sexual harassment and racial discrimination by on-air hosts, executives, and employees, ultimately paying out millions of dollars in legal settlements.

In May 1985, Australian publisher Rupert Murdoch announced that he and American industrialist and philanthropist Marvin Davis intended to develop "a network of independent stations as a fourth marketing force" to directly compete with CBS, NBC, and ABC through the purchase of six television stations owned by Metromedia. In July 1985, 20th Century Fox announced Murdoch had completed his purchase of 50% of Fox Filmed Entertainment, the parent company of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation.

Subsequently, and prior to founding FNC, Murdoch had gained experience in the 24-hour news business when News Corporation's BSkyB subsidiary began Europe's first 24-hour news channel (Sky News) in the United Kingdom in 1989. With the success of his efforts establishing Fox as a TV network in the United States, experience gained from Sky News and the turnaround of 20th Century Fox, Murdoch announced on January 30, 1996, that News Corp. would launch a 24-hour news channel on cable and satellite systems in the United States as part of a News Corp. "worldwide platform" for Fox programming: "The appetite for news – particularly news that explains to people how it affects them – is expanding enormously".

In February 1996, after former U.S. Republican Party political strategist and NBC executive Roger Ailes left cable television channel America's Talking (now MSNBC), Murdoch asked him to start Fox News Channel. Ailes demanded five months of 14-hour workdays and several weeks of rehearsal shows before its launch on October 7, 1996.

At its debut 17-million households were able to watch FNC; however, it was absent from the largest U.S. media markets of New York City and Los Angeles. Rolling news coverage during the day consisted of 20-minute single-topic shows such as Fox on Crime or Fox on Politics, surrounded by news headlines. Interviews featured facts at the bottom of the screen about the topic or the guest. The flagship newscast at the time was The Schneider Report, with Mike Schneider's fast-paced delivery of the news. During the evening, Fox featured opinion shows: The O'Reilly Report (later The O'Reilly Factor), The Crier Report (hosted by Catherine Crier) and Hannity & Colmes. From the beginning, FNC has placed heavy emphasis on visual presentation. Graphics were designed to be colorful and gain attention; this helped the viewer to grasp the main points of what was being said, even if they could not hear the host (with on-screen text summarizing the position of the interviewer or speaker, and "bullet points" when a host was delivering commentary). Fox News also created the "Fox News Alert", which interrupted its regular programming when a breaking news story occurred.^{[citation needed]}