Sources familiar with the pending merger of CBS and Viacom have said that majority owner Shari Redstone is eyeing a possible channel dedicated to conservative news, a move that could mean a ratings challenger for Fox News.
Insiders believe that Redstone is possibly planning to launch such a venture on the recently acquired “Pluto” channel, which Viacom purchased in March for $340 million. Redstone is also said to have attended several meetings about the potential for a conservative news network and has had talks with several prominent media figures that could potentially appear on the network.
Redstone has met with former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who left Fox in 2017 to become a host on NBC’s Megyn Kelly Today, a position she held until the show’s cancellation at the end of 2018. Kelly stated in January that she would be returning to television in 2019 but declined to provide further details. Kelly has not confirmed that she has spoken with Redstone about a position at a potential Fox News rival.
Though Redstone has not revealed her personal politics to the public, she has spoken positively of President Trump and visited him in the White House earlier this year. “He’s always been very good to me and a tremendous supporter of me personally,” she said in an interview a short time after Trump’s 2016 electoral victory.
Fox News is consistently the ratings leader is cable news, and is estimated to bring in more than $1 billion in profit annually. The merger between Viacom and CBS could also mean a boost for CBS News, which trails other networks in several major daytime slots.
A spokesperson for Viacom dismissed the rumor that the cable company has plans for a conservative news outlet on Tuesday, but the pending merger that reassembles the original Viacom structure leaves room for that possibility.
Viacom tells CNBC’s @JBoorstin: “Viacom has no intention of launching a news channel, conservative or otherwise” https://t.co/qNZ15PyohC
— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) October 15, 2019
Sources close to Redstone have insisted that she feels that Fox News has “gone crazy” in recent years and is interested in a less controversial line-up of programs.
Viacom and CBS will become ViacomCBS after the pending merger which, as a $30 billion conglomerate, will also run Showtime, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, and BET.
UPDATE: A representative has denied the report that Shari Redstone is actively pursuing a conservative news network, in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
