Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters
As Tucker Carlson said almost nightly on his Fox News show, “I’m just asking the question!”
I was a Fox executive from 1990 to 1997 helping to build Fox Broadcasting Company, the long sought fourth free-over-the-air commercial TV network. I successfully secured for Fox, and its principal Rupert Murdoch, waivers of numerous laws and regulations necessary/helpful to launch Fox Broadcasting. My colleagues and I were proud to build that and a new brand in television, FOX, a brand with integrity that stood for competition and innovation (like showing viewers the scrimmage line electronically in NFL broadcasts). In my time at Fox I greatly admired Rupert whose vision and boldness made our good work possible.
In addition to Fox Broadcasting, Fox owns cable channels including Fox News Channel and 28 local broadcast TV stations. The Federal Communications Commission has almost no regulatory authority over cable channels like Fox News but heavily regulates local broadcast stations that use public airwaves.