Is Lou Dobbs Going To Fox?

by Rachel Sklar | 2:02 am, October 12th, 2009

dobbs

Buried in Brian Stelter’s story about the battle between Fox News and the Obama Administration is a little nugget: Last month, Lou Dobbs met with Roger Ailes.

Fox Business Network, which recently picked up firebrand Don Imus, is reportedly interested in Dobbs, whose controversial anti-immigration, anti-Administration stance has sat awkwardly with the rest of CNN’s programming of late.

Dobbs got some unwanted attention for CNN this summer during the “Birther” controversy after giving airtime to Birther conspiracy theorists questioning President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and nationality. Over the course of his “reporting” on that story — including after an internal memo from CNN president Jon Klein said the story was effectively dead — Dobbs lost 15% of his viewers. CNN meanwhile, was distancing itself from Dobbs, who continue that line of reasoning on his radio show — and subsequently became the target of protests and boycotts from several liberal and Hispanic organizations.

The AP in August called Dobbs “a publicity nightmare for CNN“; Gawker said “Well done Lou, well done. Just go ahead and fax your resume over to Fox News now, because you’ve probably alienated the average CNN viewer to the point of no return.”

And now, this news, which Stelter reported was sourced by two separate people within the network. Stelter said that FBN was “keen on” Dobbs, as certainly a meeting directly with Ailes would suggest. So, too, would this quote in the piece: “Don’t pick a fight with people who like to fight.” That, according to one of Stelter’s sources (an executive at Fox) was said by Roger Ailes, about the Obama Administration and their recent aggressiveness towards Fox. Dobbs, for his part, has shown that he has no problem picking fights; it only makes sense for him to find a home at a network where they do, too.

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Brian Stelter, Fox Business Channel, Fox Business Network, Jon Klein, Lou Dobbs, Lou Dobbs Birthers, Lou Dobbs CNN, Lou Dobbs FNC, Lou Dobbs Fox, Lou Dobbs Fox Business Channel, Lou Dobbs Immigration, Lou Dobbs Obama, Lou Dobbs Ratings, Lou Dobbs Roger Ailes, Roger Ailes, Roger Ailes Fox

13 comments

m says:

October 12, 2009 at 8:30 am

Well, it’s a good fit. Dobbs used to be a primarily business anchor and he’s flirting with the birther fringe, so why not just move over to Fox News?

Jamie White says:

October 12, 2009 at 9:15 am

Dobbs has been maniacal about immigration for ages. Now the birther business and the far right flirtation on his radio program. Good bye good riddance go where we don’t even have to bump into you by accident.

CaptainAmerica says:

October 12, 2009 at 10:25 am

I thought this was already a given when his contract was up. He’s been treated terribly at CNN. Lou is a sensible, common sense guy who doesn’t belong on that far left zealot network. He never really did belong in the land of crazies.

With Fox Business Network already able to beat CNBC in the mornings with Imus, Lou will make a great addition with John Stossel. It won’t be long till FBN has increased its distribution even further than the huge gains they’ve made in only 2 years.

CNNFN was on the air for close to 9 years and they couldn’t get past somewhere around 20 million homes. It was a terrible failure.

But if you remember, it was even way back in 1995 that Lou Dobbs got them to start CNNFN because of the terrible direction that CNN was going in.

Fox Business Network has a great chance to be profitable by year 3- 3 1/2. Ailes was doubted once again but he will prove all the idiots wrong!

Rachel Sklar says:

October 12, 2009 at 11:13 am

I agree with Captain America – the other story here is that the world is FBN’s oyster. They are poised to break out in a big way, very soon.

ImNotBlue says:

October 12, 2009 at 11:37 am

Called it… months ago. Someone buy me a drink!

Anyone? I said Dobbs, with his strong money background, would be a great addition to FBN’s lineup… MONTHS AGO! Come on, doesn’t that mean I win a prize? A new job? A key-chain?

Darn interwebs not giving out prizes…

m says:

October 12, 2009 at 11:56 am

>Far left zealot network

For a period CNN only had two opinionated anchors on their network: Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs. You can rest the librul bias claptrap.

ImNotBlue says:

October 12, 2009 at 1:33 pm

Actually, Headline News had Beck… they are similar, but not the same.

Facebook User says:

October 12, 2009 at 3:05 pm

Whoa, whoa, whoa…Fox Business is poised to “break out” soon??

After Imus’ HUGE Monday, the network only averaged a paltry, pathetic 36,000 viewers for the REST OF THE DAY (9am – 7pm). That’s up marginally from their usual 20-something average, which includes the 0 rated 6am, 7am and 8am hours. And that was on MONDAY, the BIG Imus day.
(funny, not a peep about their ratings after that)

Fox Business has a LOT of work to do before they can even begin to attract an audience….they got a bunch of old farts to watch in the morning, and they all FLED at 9am.

(source: http://weblogs.jomc.unc.edu/talkingbiznews/?p=11146)

CaptainAmerica says:

October 12, 2009 at 5:11 pm

Yes Vik, Rachel Sklar knows what she is talking about, FBN is poised to break out soon.

First off you claim going from 21,000 to 36,000 (the rest of the day) is a marginal jump. Close to a 60% jump in the ratings. I’m sure FBN execs are happy with that.

Yes, FBN does have more work to do to attract an audience. But tell me what do you think it matters who is watching? Why are you dismissing the “old farts” as viewers?

Facebook User says:

October 12, 2009 at 5:39 pm

Uhhh, yeah….you really need to brush up on your math.

Between 5am and 7pm, Fox Business was averaging 21,000 viewers (in June)
After Imus’ big day (last Monday) – from 9am to 7pm, the network averaged 36,000 viewers

But the 21,000 figure includes the LOW rated 5am, 6am, 7am and 8am hours (which were nothing more than a few thousand, judging by the 1500% increase Imus brought in)

So strip out the 5am – 9am low rated hours in June and do an apples to apples 9am to 7pm comparison. You can reach the conclusion that the overall audience growth during the day was practically nil.

As for the demo, I agree it’s less important for a biz network like CNBC/Fox Biz. But for you to dismiss the demo completely is absurd (and considering it was only 9k on Monday, during the high rated morning – that can NOT be spun in a positive way).

CaptainAmerica says:

October 12, 2009 at 6:11 pm

I’d like to see the original 21,000 figure because I don’t remember that one including Jenna Lee’s show.

Why is dismissing the demo absurd? Was Imus installed to win the demo? No!

Imus was brought in to increase the channels distribution and the fees that FBN gets each month. When DirectTV, Cox and others keep getting bugged by people to include FBN on their systems that matters. Those people aren’t asking the age of the people wanting that. All they care about is the $70 a month or more they get from them. If more and more keep requesting it, it will be added on the lower tiers as well. That’s what Imus is all about–getting FBN into 60 then 70 then 80 million homes.

Look at the huge numbers Imus brought in on the first day. Its not like Fox spent big money promoting the move. The only thing they did was show promos on FNC and FBN. Wait till they start taking out full page ads all over the country, billboards etc.

Also, if you don’t think its incredible that a new cable channel could be profitable within 3-3 1/2 years, you are kidding yourself.

devan says:

October 12, 2009 at 6:59 pm

We can only hope! Fox Rocks! And the secret Obama does NOT want people to know is not his birth – it’s his grades…… Hint: worse than Kerry, Bush or Gore!

Sunnyr says:

October 12, 2009 at 8:37 pm

I certainly hope Lou Dobbs will become a member of the Fox Family. He will fit right in. I used to watch Lou every evening until I could no longer stand CNN. Roger Ailes is a genius in programming and knows a winner when he sees one. Glenn Beck, John Stossel, Imus and, hopefully Lou Dobbs! Yeah!!!

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