Some would date the revolution in American media to June 1, 1980, when, at 6:00 PM Eastern Time, CNN began broadcasting around-the-clock news.But, while CNN was 24/7/365, it differed only in the volume of televised news it carried, not different from the quality or the lean of legacy network news.
Indeed, CNN quickly became a part of legacy news.That is what it is aspired to.
That is what it became.Others would point to August 4, 1987, as the beginning of the revolution, the date the Federal Communications Commission repealed the "Fairness Doctrine" by a vote of 4-0 under FCC Chairman Dennis R.Patrick’s leadership.Still others would point to August 1, 1988, when Rush Limbaugh launched his program on ABC Radio Networks and began broadcasting over his then 50 affiliates.
"Rush built the mall," I tell most audiences interested in the birth of conservative talk radio."Mike Gallagher, Larry Elder, Mark Levin…we just have stores inside that mall."RUSH LIMBAUGH’S PATRIOTIC LEGACY RETURNS AHEAD OF AMERICA’S 250TH BIRTHDAY TO TEACH KIDS TRUE HISTORYRush provided "proof of concept" to AM station owners and a demand signal to all of media that half of America was not just under-served but actually unwelcomed.
The market responded.Brian Kilmeade, Guy Benson and many others on the Fox Radio Network are part of the ever-expanding news universe on the center-right."The good bulk of the press in this country was monolithic — liberal to varying degrees," Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch commented on the tenth anniversary of the launch of Fox News in 2006.
This was an echo from what he had said at the actual launch ten years ago: "Frankly, all the others look alike.We will be an alternative."JUAN WILLIAMS: MY WIFE THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY TO JOIN FOX NEWS.
I'M GLAD I DIDOf course, the success of the network and the brand has been phenomenal.What Rush Limbaugh did for radio, Rupert Murdoch did for cable news: Prove the concept that there was an enormous, unmet demand in con...