Variety: Fox News Strikes Deal to Put ‘Ruthless’ Podcast on Digital Roster

Story from Variety:

Ever since its launch in 1996, Fox News has enjoyed a unique history of minting top talk personalities, ranging from Sean Hannity to Megyn Kelly to Greg Gutfeld. Now, the Fox Corp. unit is going to bring an outside entity into its empire.

As part of a licensing agreement, the popular “Ruthless” podcast, led by a trio of G.O.P. insiders and a fourth who likes to call himself “Comfortably Smug,” will align itself with Fox News Media’s suite of podcasts, which include programs led by Dana Perino and Brian Kilmeade. Fox News executives may see more of this activity on the horizon. Porter Berry, a longtime Fox News executive who helped produce “The Five” and Sean Hannity’s primetime show before becoming president of Fox News Digital, will take on additional duties tied to new media and opinion podcasts.

Financial terms were not disclosed. “Ruthless” is seen as popular with men between the ages of 18 and 45 — well below the median age of the typical viewer of Fox News or cable news in general.

The pact with “Ruthless” “is a natural extension of our powerhouse brand as audiences reshape how they consume quality content,” says Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, in a statement. “We have cultivated an unrivaled bench of successful personalities who are well-positioned to excel in today’s evolving media landscape, where podcasting offers the kind of deep engagement our platforms are known for. Porter is a talented executive whose leadership will enhance these new media ventures and creators, while further strengthening Fox News Digital.”

The “Ruthless” squad is formidable in conservative circles. Josh Holmes is a former chief of staff for Senator Mitch McConnell, and Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook have also worked for his office. The three are founding partners of Cavalry, a public-relations firm that has close ties with Republicans, while “Comfortably Smug” is a pseudonym used by Shashank Tripathi, a popular social-media personality who often trolls on X. The show isn’t serious in tone. There’s a lot of humor used as the co-hosts discuss current events and rail against liberal reaction to them. The Fox News agreement to license the podcast is akin to MSNBC trying to strike a content alliance with Pod Save America.

Fox News makes its move as so-called “creator media” is gaining new traction with traditional news anchors and correspondents — and the viewers who have watched them for years. Among those who have unveiled independent forays into digital media in recent weeks are former MSNBC personality Joy Reid; ABC News veteran Terry Moran; and former CNN anchor Jim Acosta.

Alumni from Fox News have been some of the most successful in navigating these waters, with both Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly gaining traction with audiences who no longer require a cable subscription to interact with their favorite program or celebrity. Indeed, Fox News parent Fox Corp. in February purchased Red Seat Ventures, a company that provides business services to a host of digital-content entrepreneurs, including Kelly, Carlson and another former Fox star, Bill O’Reilly.

Most news networks routinely hire contributors. Some are experts in military affairs, while others are just gifted orators. But it’s rare to bring an outsider under a long-running news operation via a licensing deal or other business arrangement. CNN tried to do so in 2016 when it enlisted digital influencer Casey Neistat and purchased his social-networking app, Beme, in a bid to launch a news outlet that would have traction with information junkies who got their headlines from digital media. The two parted ways two years later without making much progress.

Disney’s ESPN has trod a similar path. The sports-media giant is paying millions to Pat McAfee, a sometimes-volatile sports personality who hosts a popular YouTube show, for a license that allows for McAfee’s program to run on ESPN venues. The two have had to step carefully during their tenure together, with McAfee once criticizing a top ESPN executive on air, and allowing one guest, Aaron Rodgers, to make inaccurate claims about coronavirus vaccines.

During Scott’s tenure, Fox News has kept its eye on new ways to reach viewers, even if they are not the traditional ones. Fox News launched a portfolio of streaming ventures and enlisted more Fox News personalities to try their hand at books. There is a portfolio of newsletters. The company continues to seek “the new way and the next way to get to our audience,” says Berry, during a recent interview.

Executives believe “Ruthless” can grow further, says Berry, and do so under the Fox News umbrella. He can envision taking clips from the podcast and making them available across other Fox News venues. “If they talk to a newsmaker and make news, we will it put it on, have it reverberate through all platforms,” says Berry, part of a bid to “meet audiences where they are.”

The four “Ruthless” co-hosts will also work as contributors to Fox News programs. They join another conservative podcaster, Brett Cooper, who was recently named as a contributor to Fox News.

Berry was named president of Fox News Digital in 2023, following stints as executive vice president and vice president and editor in chief. He will retain his other duties, expanding his oversight of properties that will play a significant role in helping Fox News fulfill a projection it released in May to secure $500 million in revenue not tied to cable TV.

While Berry gains new responsibility for opinion podcasts, John Sylvester, currently senior vice president of Fox News Audio, will continue to oversee editorial, production and operations for news-based podcasts as well as operations and production for the opinion podcasting arm. Berry will report to both Scott, the CEO, and Jay Wallace, Fox News’ president and executive editor.