The ratings-grabbing 10-hour miniseries “The Bible” — which averaged 11.3 million viewers for each of its 5 installments last month on the History Channel — could have aired on Fox News Channel. The LATimes’ Joe Flint reports News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch wanted the Mark Burnett eries for one of his channels. After the Fox broadcast network and FX were ruled out, Flint writes:
The surprise solution was Fox News. Although on the surface an entertainment series might seem out of place on a news and talk channel, there was a school of thought that “The Bible” could play well there. Fox News has an older and more conservative audience that was seen as a good fit for “The Bible.” Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes caught Murdoch’s enthusiasm and a plan was hatched to run it there on Sundays
Fox News — or any cable channel — would have loved to have 11 million viewers for 5 successive Sunday nights. If only…
(h/t J$P)