Roger Ailes resigns

[voguy]

Fox News chief Ailes resigns after sexual harassment claims
Reuters - By Jessica Toonkel - July 21, 2016

NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) - Roger Ailes, who built Fox News Channel into a money-making ratings powerhouse, has resigned as chairman and chief executive of the popular cable channel following allegations of sexual harassment, the company said on Thursday.

Rupert Murdoch, 85, the executive chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, the parent of Fox News, will assume the role of chairman and acting CEO of Fox News and Fox Business Network.

The terms of Ailes' exit package were not released.

Susan Estrich, Ailes' lawyer, was not immediately available for comment.

The resignation marks a swift downfall for Ailes, the 76-year-old media executive who advised several U.S. Republican presidents, including George H.W. Bush, and turned Fox News into the most-watched U.S. cable news channel.

Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson sued Ailes earlier this month, claiming sexual harassment. Ailes has denied the charges. Fox hired a law firm to conduct an internal investigation.

New York magazine followed up with reports of other women who said they had been harassed by Ailes as far back as the 1960s. On Tuesday, the magazine said that popular Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly had told investigators hired by Fox that Ailes "made unwanted sexual advances toward her" about 10 years ago.

Ailes, who founded the cable channel in 1996, did not sexually harass Kelly, according to a statement attributed to his lawyer in the New York Times on Tuesday. His lawyers did not respond to questions from Reuters.

The resignation comes as Fox News, known for a lineup of politically conservative commentators including best-selling author Bill O'Reilly, is drawing record viewership. The network is the most-watched channel in all of basic cable television this year with an average of 2.2 million prime-time viewers, according to Nielsen data through June.

Ailes' long experience as both a television producer and a Republican strategist helped him to formulate a winning strategy: hire charismatic talent to appeal to a conservative audience.

Critics said Ailes pushed a Republican agenda under the oft-repeated slogan "Fair and Balanced." His fans said he smartly recognized that conservative TV viewers were not seeing their viewpoints reflected on Time Warner Inc's CNN or major broadcast networks.

Fox News Channel went on the air in 1996, just before Bill Clinton was elected to a second term, with Ailes as founding CEO.

While Ailes' departure may not come at an ideal time for Fox News, the momentum of record ratings amid the most sensational U.S. presidential election in decades may give the cable network some breathing room to recover, media buyers and Wall Street analysts have told Reuters.

And some of them say this could be an opportunity for Fox News, whose median age of viewers is over 65, to focus on getting younger fans.

[Raggedyann]

Fox News seems to be changing and I am highly suspicious that this has all occurred during this weird election year. Why have these sex allegations just come to light now? Why change things when they still have the highest ratings?

[voguy]

Fox News seems to be changing and I am highly suspicious that this has all occurred during this weird election year. Why have these sex allegations just come to light now? Why change things when they still have the highest ratings?

Let's just say all the women assumed they were the only victim and thought they didn't have clout.

Now that they know about each other's story it's harder for Ailes to deny and fight back against one woman.

[kbot]

CNN reported that most staff at Fox have loyalty clauses written into their contracts, and now that Ailes is gone, a lot of their staff may have legal basis to exit as well. Early reports named Doucy as a possible person of interest as well, so he may be toast soon.......

[voguy]

Hopefully the "loyalty clauses" were not forced into action in states where it's a felony for sexual harassment, or threatening ones job for personal reasons.

Several states have overridden the loyalty clauses, anti-compete, disclosure or pay, etc. The only enforceable action they have trade secret which is narrowly applied.