. . |
 It was
a wild six months, the culmination of 3 tumultuous years at Fox. |
|
| In that six months, I designed and built the entire 200 seat newsroom, 4 studio production complex, and two floors of office suites that comprises the Fox News Channel in New York (on time to the day and on budget). | ||
| I designed the Washington Bureau and studio, supervised scenic design and lighting for every Fox News broadcast, and, with the exception of graphics, created the entire on-air look. | ||
| My contribution to the Fox News Channel began with my role co-writing the business plan and proposal presented to, and approved by, Rupert Murdoch. I created the original 24 hour concept of news on the hour and half-hour, with news-talk in between. I created the entire operational plan, and put every aspect of the production side in place. I hired 90 people, all on the production side (directors, editors, production managers, etc.). | ||
| 60 million dollars in capital expenditures were spent or committed during that period. With architect Rudy Nazat at my side, I drew on everything I had learned in the TV news business to create, from scratch, the giant complex at 1211 Avenue of the Americas. I selected, purchased, and programmed the "zipper" that flashes news around the side of the building. | ||
| I also headed the weather deal cut with WSI, and I conceived and executed the unique weather bug, illustrated above in the lower right of the Fox image. The bug delivered head end-specific current readings and forecast to each head end. It has since been replaced by market data. | ||
| Launching the Fox News Channel was a peak career experience. The challenge was extraordinary, and I exceeded it. | ||
 Top
security access at the Fox News Channel was limited to those with Brain Room ID cards. The
Brain Room was a research facility, providing news research as well as other research
requested by News Chairman Roger Ailes. |
||
| Note that I originally joined Fox to act as Managing Editor of a prime time news magazine ("Full Disclosure") that never got on the air. That story's been told by Zoe Heller in "Granta" magazine. | ||
| Once Fox News Channel premiered, I knew it was time for me to get back to producing. I had an offer, and I took it. |