Op-Ed: The future of FOX News is up in the air

Rupert Murdoch, who built News Corp and Fox Corporation into global media powerhouses, in 2007 – Copyright AFP JAMIE MCDONALD

Big changes to the leadership and direction of News Corp and FOX News in particular could result from a major Murdoch family dispute. A court in Reno is currently hearing the case for the opposing Murdoch factions. The battle is over the Murdoch Family Trust, the controlling entity of the Murdoch moneymakers.

Related voting issues for News Corp are also being addressed by a shareholders’ vote. The Trust currently has 41% of the voting shares, and other shares can’t vote. The idea is a 1 for 1 vote for all shares, which would completely reconfigure the numerical voting structure. Murdoch only has 14% of the total shares, so numerically, it’s a very different environment.

Other stakeholders in News Corp could redirect FOX and News Corp as a whole “to the left”. That’s a big issue. News Corp is famous for being heavily committed to the right and is the main platform for Trump and other tourists.

The other issue is money. In terms of value, distribution, and market reach, FOX in particular is an obvious target for takeovers if the shareholder vote in favor of the new voting rights goes through.

That’s not very likely. The shareholder vote can’t force a change to voting rights. It’s more like a referendum. The Murdochs couldn’t possibly be thinking of splitting assets on that scale, unless the Trust fight leads to an impasse.

Murdoch vs Murdoch could be a barroom brawl. To be fair, it’s been pretty civilized so far, and nobody in the family is saying much, if anything. It’s a “dispute” at this point, not an all-out war.

Rupert and Lachlan are on the right. The others are on the left, whatever that means. Some pundits say that ditching the right would be a marketing disaster for News Corp.

Given the apparent market acceptance of FOX’s ultra-biased coverage of US politics and the public interplay with people like Trump, Musk, and others, that assessment may be right. Can FOX reinvent itself as anything but what it is? Maybe not.

FOX revenue is solid and profit is up a bit, but currently somewhat stagnant, according to various reports. Revenue has risen by about 40% over the last seven years. You have to question some of the more negative “interpretations” of FOX as a business. It seems pretty healthy.

That, naturally, is the main issue for the Trust issues. The Murdochs aren’t picking over a rotting carcass. The Reno decision could rewrite the script for the business and US politics in general.

The notable lack of hysteria in the Murdoch camp also indicates that this case is all pure business. They’re not trying to sabotage News Corp or themselves. They’re not on some crusade against themselves or their business.

Rupert Murdoch said long ago that he was catering to what he saw as an underdeveloped market in US conservatism. That same conservatism has piggybacked News Corp and FOX to become what it is. The money has been coming into Murdoch’s coffers in tides ever since.

Don’t assume there’ll be any sudden schism or anything but hardheaded negotiation in the court case, and that may take a while. Like them or not, the Murdochs know how to do business.

It’s whether the Murdochs can do business with each other that’s the crucial issue.