On Monday, Clear Channel Communications, owner of radio stations such as 104.1 WZEE and 1310 WIBA-AM among others in the Madison area, announced an agreement with Fox News to create radio programming beginning in 2005 and running for at least five years, Clear Channel released in a statement.
The deal calls for Fox News to supply its top talent and present \a five-minute top-of-the-hour newscast, a nightly signature news broadcast and 24/7 dedicated national news coverage"" on over 100 Clear Channel stations, with the possibility of increasing coverage to 500 stations by mid-2005.
James Hoyt, a UW-Madison emeritus professor of journalism and mass communication, said this represented a rather unusual business venture for both Fox News and Clear Channel.
""Up until now [Fox has] been only a television network and the only news that they've done has been in their cable network, so this is a whole new venture for them,"" Hoyt said. Clear Channel's decision to partner up with Fox News was also odd, Hoyt said, because Clear Channel is one of the largest broadcasters in the country and this was an alliance they did not need to form. Furthermore, having Clear Channel stations broadcast national news supplied by Fox could result in less intensive local news coverage, Hoyt said.
Both companies approach this partnership as a business deal where both sides come out ahead. Clear Channel said in a statement that they get stronger national news coverage, while Fox gets its foot in the door of the radio medium.
""[Clear Channel is] doing this because they think it will draw listeners; they're in the business to make money,"" UW-Madison journalism Professor Jack Mitchell said. ""They feel a Fox News presence throughout the day will attract a significant audience and they may be right.""
Mitchell added the conservative leanings of Fox News could draw a coveted, large audience, as evidenced by the recent presidential election results.
Hoyt said the partnership probably will not work as ideally as Clear Channel and Fox want it to, because Fox will be creating an entire new division to service Clear Channel's needs. The creation of this division will need personalities and writers to provide the radio news programming and this talent might come from the Fox cable station, thus providing two diluted newscasters instead of a single focused one.
The most unique aspect of this deal could be Clear Channel stations airing both the conservative-leaning Fox News and the liberal-leaning Air America programming. The two forces just might cancel each other out and result in a truly moderate broadcast medium.
""This deal positions Fox News to become a significant player in the radio industry and is another example of our commitment to the medium,"" the statement quoted Roger Ailes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Fox News. ""We look forward to working with Clear Channel Radio-one of the most innovative radio operators in the industry.""
