Ailes: “The Lines Are Beginning To Blur Between Broadcast & Cable Now”

Matt Zoller Seitz’s Newark Star-Ledger story about Roger Ailes is a must-read. Ailes told Zoller Seitz that changes are afoot, but said they wouldn’t be as dramatic as observers might suspect.

The most interesting quote comes on page two, as Ailes explains why definitions like cable and broadcast are becoming less important. “The lines are starting to blur between broadcast and cable now,” Ailes said. “People don’t come home and say, ‘Do we want to watch the news on cable, or on a broadcast network?’ People know who they like to watch and where they are on the dial…As people start to pay less attention to dial positions, and as they’re able to just program whatever they want to watch, you’ll see those lines begin to disappear to a large degree.”

> Also: Ailes said local viewers could expect more “production values” and investigative journalism. “We will probably add resources and begin building out these [local] stations in a way that makes them more interesting on-screen.”