Fox Newsers, past and present, are apparently hot commodities among conservative media outlets Sinclair and Newsmax.
Politico is reporting that Sinclair Broadcast Group executive chairman David Smith has met with Sean Hannity‘s ep Porter Berry “in the last few months.” The country’s largest broadcast group is reportedly preparing to launch a conservative-leaning cable news network of its own, and poaching Berry from FNC would be significant.
This comes after reporting that Smith has been wooing Tribune Media executive Sean Compton, who is also friends with the top-rated cable news host.
Politico reported two weeks ago that Sinclair chief has met with former Fox Newser Greta Van Susteren and prime time host Jeanine Pirro. Needless to say, if these reports are accurate, it’s a busy time for Sinclair, which is still waiting for DOJ approval to purchase Tribune Media.
Sinclair chief revenue officer Rob Weisbord spoke to Adweek last month about the status of the deal to acquire Tribune, saying “It’s still alive. We’re waiting on the government to make their decisions. We are cautiously optimistic that something will be closed in the second quarter, but it’s all in the hands of Department of Justice right now.”
A Page Six report emerged earlier this week that former Fox News star Bill O’Reilly is being targeted by Newsmax, a cable news channel with a conservative bend. O’Reilly would be the outlet’s “centerpiece.”
Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy brought on former Fox News executive Michael Clemente earlier this year to run Newsmax TV. O’Reilly appeared on Newsmax TV earlier this year to provide analysis of President Trump’s first State of the Union address. Seems like a match made in heaven, assuming O’Reilly would like to return to prime time (According to Page Six’s Emily Smith, he would get his old 8 p.m. hour). O’Reilly is reportedly focused on his podcast, but he could probably continue to do that and host an hour in prime time if he really wanted to. He did radio and TV each weekday for decades.
We reached out to Newsmax for comment on the Page Six report, but have yet to hear back.