Sinclair Media plans to compete with Fox News and they have apparently begun poaching talent from Fox News. They are especially interested in Sean Hannity’s show.
“Sinclair chairman David Smith has met in the last few months with the executive producer of Hannity’s top-rated show on Fox, Porter Berry, according to two people familiar with the meeting,” reported Politico.
“Berry is not the only person connected to Hannity who Smith has gone after. The Sinclair boss has also been wooing Sean Compton, a Tribune Media programming executive who is close friends with the Fox host,” the outlet reported.
The question is, have they approached Sean Hannity?
Sinclair has reportedly approached Jeanine Pirro and Greta Van Susteren as well. As an aside, Newsmax has been allegedly negotiating with Eric Bolling, Bill O’Reilly, and Greta.
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“There has been considerable speculation over which hosts Smith would nab to front his effort and, last fall, he held discussions with former Fox star Bill O’Reilly, though the talks were ultimately broken off,” the report said.
Hannity’s contract with Fox is set to expire in 2020. It is not known if he has a clause to exit early.
Currently, Hannity has the most popular cable news show.
Smith is planning a block of conservative news/opinion shows to compete with Fox on either Sinclair-owned stations or on cable. If it is on his TV network, 40 percent of American households can receive the programming without a cable subscription.
The media group believes there is a big enough audience to sustain the competition.
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