The lights turned on inside Fox News’ legendary Studio A at 7 a.m. today for the launch of Fox Nation, Fox News’ new subscription-based streaming service meant to enhance the Fox News experience for the network’s “superfans.”
The service is ad-free at launch, and for $5.99 a month or $64.99 per year, subscribers can access on-demand access to live political commentary with a conservative slant (the product tagline is: “Opinion Done Right”), as well as original programming.
“Fox Nation isn’t just an on-demand, subscription OTT service. It’s a members-only destination, a club that we want people to join,” John Finley, svp of development and production, Fox News, told Adweek’s Jason Lynch earlier this month.
The New York Times’ Michael Grynbaum writes: “Fox Nation may be the id of Fox News, but it is also a potentially shrewd bet for the Murdoch family, which is testing the digital waters ahead of news rivals CNN and MSNBC.”
Who will Fox Nation subscribers find on this service? Almost exclusively conservative voices.
In addition to prime time stars Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, the service will feature exclusive programming hosted by conservative personalities like Tomi Lahren and Britt McHenry; Fox & Friends co-hosts Ainsley Earhardt, Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy; The Five’s Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters and Dana Perino; Justice host Jeanine Pirro; The Greg Gutfeld Show staple George “Tyrus” Murdoch; Fox News Radio’s Tom Shillue, Guy Benson, Marie Harf and Todd Starnes; Fox & Friends Weekend co–host Pete Hegseth; The Next Revolution’s Steve Hilton; FBN’s Stuart Varney and Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery; Fox News digital politics editor Chris Stirewalt; America’s News Headquarters’ Eric Shawn; as well as FNC contributors David Webb, Bill Bennett, Katie Pavlich, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Rachel Campos-Duffy, Raymond Arroyo and Mark Fuhrman, and Fox News fan favorites Diamond & Silk.
News networks, which skew older than their entertainment counterparts, seem to regard streaming news services as a supplemental revenue stream (no pun intended) and also as a way to attract younger news consumers.
According to Lynch, acting CBS CEO Joe Ianniello said on an earnings call earlier this month that the average age of the CBSN viewer is 38, which is “decades younger than the average broadcast and cable news viewer.”
Finley said Fox News welcomes its hardcore “superfans” of all ages to sign up for the OTT service, and told TVNewser earlier this month during a visit to the Fox Nation election experience he’s confident Fox Nation programming won’t siphon A25-54 viewers off the linear network. It’s complimentary content.
“We’re positioning it as a supplement,” said Finley. “I think for Fox fans there’s plenty of time to do both. The way we’re programmed with our live schedule, this will compliment the news channel. For folks who can’t get enough Jesse Watters, for instance, Fox Nation gives them more to do…I think it will be good.”
The Fox Nation live programming schedule Finley hinted at ends at 7 p.m., in time for viewers to switch to the linear network for its top stars: Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham.
Anyways, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and Fox News president Jay Wallace sent a joint email to staff this morning regarding the Fox Nation launch, obtained by TVNewser:
Dear Colleagues, Today we begin another milestone in the 22 year history of FOX News with the launch of FOX Nation, an online streaming service built with our super fans in mind. FOX Nation is designed to enhance the FOX News viewing experience by offering exclusive content, access and special events with many of our FOX News stars and some new personalities you will get to know even better as you become familiar with the programming. We turned on the switch at 7:00 AM this morning in Studio A (the original studio we launched our first hour of FOX News Channel programming in) and the platform is up and running on foxnation.com. FOX Nation will also be operating out of the newly revamped Studio K on the 14th floor. We are currently working on a process to provide all FOX News and FOX Business Network employees with complimentary access to the $5.99 a month service by the end of December. More information will be available on this in the coming weeks. Congratulations to the entire FOX Nation team on this exciting day and a big thank you to all of the departments that have worked tirelessly over the last six months to debut this new platform to our incredibly engaged audience. Suzanne & Jay
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