Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott said that the network “fully support[s]” its primetime talent and won’t give in to leftist boycotts during a recent interview with Variety Magazine.
Scott took over Fox News last May, about two years after the network’s founder Roger Ailes was ousted over sexual harassment allegations. Scott made clear in the rare on-the-record interview that she intends to run the channel much differently than her former boss. Perhaps most importantly, Scott explained that she intends to value the input of Fox News viewership over the network’s detractors on social media. (RELATED: Fox Promotes Woman To CEO, Making Her Only Current Female Network Head)
“Our audience is deeply connected to our primetime shows,” Scott asserted. “We are the only ones with conservative talent in primetime. We believe in free speech. We fully support our primetime talent, and we’re not going to let the voices of the few impact our business.”
Several of Fox’s primetime hosts, including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham have faced advertiser boycotts from left-wing activist organizations. The protests and boycotts are primarily manufactured by Media Matters for America, a nonprofit dedicated to attacking conservative media personalities while ignoring the scandals of progressive media hosts.
“We became No. 1 under President Bush. We stayed No. 1 under President Obama. We are still No. 1,” Scott said. “My focus is on business.”
While Fox has dropped advertisers because of the pressure against its primetime hosts, Marianne Gambelli, Fox Corp.’s president of ad sales, said the pull-outs are merely temporary. Fox also notably pulls in far more in ad revenue than competitors CNN and MSNBC.
In addition to dollars, Fox is nearly unbeatable in the ratings game. Carlson and Ingraham pulled in record ratings last week after the conclusion of the Mueller investigation, while MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow had her lowest-rated week ever.