File under “I’ll believe it when I see it” the news from Axios that Donald Trump wants to start a streaming service to compete with Fox Nation that will eventually take down the whole network. Updated.
Given the cost and difficulties in launching a cable channel, Trump’s plan to annihilate Fox is to go digital, according to “a source with detailed knowledge of Trump's intentions,” Axios’ Mike Allen reported today. He wrote:
Trump's digital offering would likely charge a monthly fee to MAGA fans. Many are Fox News viewers, and he'd aim to replace the network — and the $5.99-a-month Fox Nation streaming service, which has an 85% conversion rate from free trials to paid subscribers — as their top destination.
"He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it," the source told Allen. But while I'll agree that Trump’s database and cellphone numbers would give him what Allen called “a huge head start,” I find it hard to believe a Trump streaming service would be Fox’s undoing. Damage, maybe. Destroy? I'm skeptical.
Part of the problem for Trump, as I see it, is that Fox fans don’t just love the network but its hosts and pundits. Unless Trump can steal Sean Hannity or Tucker Carlson, or maybe Ainsley Earhardt, I don’t see a wipeout happening any time soon.
Also, let’s not forget, Trump is a terrible businessman.
But I could be wrong. Maybe "Breakfast with Ivanka and Jared" would be a smash hit, after all!
(Trump image via screen grab)
11/13/20 Update: CNN's Brian Stelter writes: