Fox, facing new competitors, clings tighter to Trump

Fox, facing new competitors, clings tighter to Trump
The network that sparred with him as a candidate now rarely challenge him.
By JASON SCHWARTZ 11/09/2017 05:05 AM EST

During the Republican primary contest, Donald Trump feuded frequently with Fox News, going after Megyn Kelly and, at the height of his pique, even skipping one of the network’s debates. That now seems like eons ago. When staunch Trump supporter Laura Ingraham launched her new 10 p.m. show last week, it represented a capstone in the yearlong remaking of Fox News in Trump’s image.

It also signaled that Fox fears increasing competition on its right flank.

The network’s new prime-time lineup, featuring Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, who was added in April, forms a three-hour nightly block of solid Trump cheerleading. Factor in the Trump-friendly morning show, “Fox & Friends,” on from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and during the network’s most-watched hours, seldom is heard a discouraging Trump word.

The access provided by cozying up to Trump — Fox’s No. 1 viewer — has been a boon to the network, said Brian Wieser, a senior analyst at Pivotal Research. Since he took office, Trump has granted 19 interviews to Fox News or Fox Business Network, compared with just two for NBC and MSNBC, one for ABC News, one for CBS News and zero for CNN.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/09/fox-news-trump-presidency-244712