# People are calling for Bloomberg to buy Fox News **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 9, 2019, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219 "2019-11-09T21:13:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/1 "2019-11-09T21:13:29Z")
It would be great if he did it, but I don’t think it’s for sale. > **[George Conway Joins Others in Calling for Michael Bloomberg to Buy Fox News](https://www.newsweek.com/michael-bloomberg-george-conway-buy-fox-news-1470792)** > > Michael Bloomberg filed paperwork to enter the 2020 presidential primary on Friday. > [@](#): > > George Conway, along with several other Twitter commenters, claimed a potential acquisition of Fox News would make a huge impact in the upcoming election, and billionaire Bloomberg was just the person capable of taking over the news network. > > In a tweet on Friday, Tom Wright, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institute, suggested Bloomberg, who already owns the Bloomberg News empire, should buy the right-leaning Fox News, which has been notoriously loose with fact-checking and criticism of Trump. “Mike Bloomberg’s first major campaign move should be to buy Fox News,” Wright wrote. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/2 "2019-11-09T21:44:08Z")
Does anyone think the people watching Fox would believe the broadcasts afterward? With a rich Jewish owner? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/3 "2019-11-09T22:05:29Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Does anyone think the people watching Fox would believe the broadcasts afterward? With a rich Jewish owner? Maybe not, but they also wouldn’t be being fed a constant stream of lies. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/4 "2019-11-09T23:23:24Z")
For fun, Bloomberg buys Faux and keeps Hannity et al for comedic effect. Hilarity ensues. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/5 "2019-11-09T23:37:35Z")
I wonder if this is even a remote possibility. Even if Murdoch would name a price that’s less than Bloomberg’s total assets\*, Murdoch could simply move all his fascist stars to another channel—which all the FoxNews viewers would then flock to. Result: Murdoch is now richer, and the brainwashed go on being brainwashed. \*Normally Bloomberg wouldn’t have to pay cash for an acquisition—but if the idea is to de-right-wingify FoxNews, then potential lenders and investors would no longer have confidence that it would be profitable. So Bloomberg might not be able to put together a deal using other people’s money—he might have to use his own. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/6 "2019-11-10T03:50:29Z")
Pipe dreams. 1. There’s no hint they want to sell. 2. Even if Bloomberg did buy, it wouldn’t happen in time for the Election 3. Even if it somehow COULD they’d get wrapped up in federal approval that we’d all be old and gray by the time it happened ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/7 "2019-11-10T04:16:19Z")
OK, fight my ignorance and tell me why this could not happen. AIUI, Fox News is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fox Co., which is a publicly traded company. The Murdoch family has 39% of he voting power. If Bloomberg News made an offer to buy Fox Co. at a certain per share price, wouldn’t Fox Co. be obligated to present the offer to shareholders for a vote? If the price offered was high enough, isn’t there a possibility that the shareholders would agree to the buy-out? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/8 "2019-11-10T04:55:07Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > For fun, Bloomberg buys Faux and keeps Hannity et al for comedic effect. Hilarity ensues. If I owned Faux Noise, I’d put the talents of the most egregious BS artists to appropriate use – Hannity doing UFO/Bigfoot/MoonFake/etc “exposes”, Pirro doing point-by-point explanations of legal arguments asserting that you don’t have to pay taxes if you write your name in ALL-CAPS, etc. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/9 "2019-11-10T05:32:04Z")
Complete Jewish control of the media. Guess I can stop my monthly dues to the Elders of Zion. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/10 "2019-11-10T21:32:45Z")
Bloomberg buys Fox news, and tries to turn it into Another CNN. Ratings tank, Hannity, Tucker, and the other popular hosts jump ship and along with some rich backers start another rival network. It quickly rises in the ratings, surpassing the old Fox News. Bloomberg loses some sofa change for him, and everything continues as it was. The reason FOX is popular is because it’s the only alternative to the liberal slant on the other networks. Make it another liberal network, and you’re just going to split the existing viewers of the other liberal networks. Meanwhile, those millions of FOX viewers will be desperately looking for another conservative news source. Also, having a rich billionaire buy the only conservative network in order to suppress conservative thought will just enrage and activate the people who like FOX just the way it is, many of whom already believe liberals are trying to control the news. Feed into that at your electoral peril. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/11 "2019-11-11T05:18:14Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The reason FOX is popular is because it’s the only alternative to the liberal slant on the other networks. Liberal networks do not exist in the US. These are COMMERCIAL media outlets that tweak content to feed to audiences to sell to advertisers. Consumers are the product. Commercial media show whatever they think will grab eyeballs, and apparently more liberal than conservative eyeballs exist. Follow the money. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/12 "2019-11-11T16:43:09Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Liberal networks do not exist in the US. These are COMMERCIAL media outlets that tweak content to feed to audiences to sell to advertisers. Consumers are the product. Commercial media show whatever they think will grab eyeballs, and apparently more liberal than conservative eyeballs exist. Follow the money. Was “more liberal than conservative” a typo? [Fox News has been the top-rated cable news network for years](https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/q3-2019-ratings-fox-news-marks-71-consecutive-months-as-the-most-watched-cable-news-network/415997/). If Bloomberg wants to follow the money, he would move to the right. And as **Sam Stone** says, making Fox News into another liberal network means competing with all the other liberal networks. It would probably work out like [the Air America radio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_America_(radio_network)) did. The idea was just set up another network like Rush Limbaugh, except from the left, and appeal to all the under-served progressive voices ( 😃 ). It didn’t quite work out, for various reasons, including that mentioned above. I don’t think Bloomberg can afford Fox News, and if he were to buy it up to change it into something more ideologically to his liking, he will ruin the brand. We already have CNN and MSNBC. (And ABC and CBS and NBC and PBS). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/13 "2019-11-11T16:51:33Z")
Fox would have to be for sale, would it not? Is it for sale? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/14 "2019-11-11T16:56:11Z")
Now that’s a daft proposal. As mentioned, NewsCorp could just turn around and use the proceeds from the sale to seed a bigger better brand-new rightwing news network. What, would the proponents then expect Comcast/DirecTV/TimeWarner/VerizonFIOS/etc. to \*deny \*access to such an outfit? > [@Shodan](#): > > Was “more liberal than conservative” a typo? [Fox News has been the top-rated cable news network for years](https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/q3-2019-ratings-fox-news-marks-71-consecutive-months-as-the-most-watched-cable-news-network/415997/). Hey, not at all – as Sam and yourself point out, they have the advantage of having no real competitor on that side. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/15 "2019-11-11T17:33:56Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Hey, not at all – as Sam and yourself point out, they have the advantage of having no real competitor on that side. They don’t have any competition from the right, but they have all kinds of competition from the left, and they beat that competition, and have done for years. I don’t see how that establishes that there are more liberal than conservative eyeballs. Also it doesn’t show that media follow the money. CNN and so forth lean liberal and lose, Fox leans conservative and wins, and thereby makes more money. If media only followed the money, we would have more conservative media. And shows to that extent that buying Fox News and changing it into another liberal outlet would be a bad business decision. Like Air America was. Obviously there is a great deal more to success in American media than just political slant. But it is a factor. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/16 "2019-11-11T17:35:26Z")
The point being, Shodan, is in a market saturated with burger joints, the sole pizza place is going to be hopping! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/17 "2019-11-11T17:55:44Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > They don’t have any competition from the right, but they have all kinds of competition from the left, and they beat that competition, and have done for years. I don’t see how that establishes that there are more liberal than conservative eyeballs. Because all the “conservative eyeballs” are focused on one network and the “liberal eyeballs” are spread across several, FoxNews has higher ratings. That doesn’t disprove the premise about the number of liberal vs conservative eyeballs. > [@](#): > > Also it doesn’t show that media follow the money. CNN and so forth lean liberal and lose, Fox leans conservative and wins, and thereby makes more money. > > If media only followed the money, we would have more conservative media. Unless of course your underlying premise that there aren’t more liberal eyeballs than conservative ones is false, in which case it shows it just fine. After all, while FoxNews has cornered the conservative market there are more than enough “liberal eyeballs” to keep multiple other networks afloat. Conversely, how’s [The Blaze’s television network](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/glenn-becks-blaze-end-linear-tv-1252902) doing these days? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/18 "2019-11-11T18:13:12Z")
This seems like such a stereotypical liberal suggestion: telling rich people what should be done with their money. If George Conway / Tom Wright want someone to buy up Fox News, they should start raising funds and do it themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/19 "2019-11-11T18:15:32Z")
Won’t someone please think of the poor money?!? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219/20 "2019-11-11T20:14:44Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Because all the “conservative eyeballs” are focused on one network and the “liberal eyeballs” are spread across several, FoxNews has higher ratings. That doesn’t disprove the premise about the number of liberal vs conservative eyeballs. Unless [Fox News has more viewers than more liberal outlets like CNN and MSNBC put together](https://www.foxnews.com/media/fox-news-wins-ratings-cnn-struggles). Plus at least some of the liberal eyeballs are over-counted in some sense, since > [@](#): > > The highest crossover was between MSNBC viewers and CNN (59%). And 37% of MSNBC watchers also checked out Fox News. [Cite.](https://www.inscape.tv/resources/how-many-cable-news-viewers-actually-take-a-balanced-approach-to-viewership) Regards, Shodan [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-are-calling-for-bloomberg-to-buy-fox-news/843219.md?page=2)