Fox News has ‘not had one client cancel’ over Dominion lawsuit, top ad exec says
Fox News has not taken any hits in the advertising department despite a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit facing the company, according to its top sales executive.
“If you take a look at our overall audience across all of Fox News Media, 40 percent comes from lifestyle — sports, weather, entertainment offerings,” Jeff Collins, executive vice president of advertising sales for Fox News Media, told Variety. “We just want to reiterate to our clients the depth and breadth of this type of content that we have outside of just hard news.”
Fox’s top executives are making pitches this week to potential advertisers as part of the annual UpFront sessions in New York.
Collins told the outlet that the company has “not had one client cancel, pause or even reduce spending” because of the lawsuit.
Recent Nielsen Media Research figures show the network’s ratings have also held steady through a string of recent negative headlines the lawsuit has garnered.
Fox is being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for what the voting tech company says was the network’s airing of claims about its software being made by former President Trump and his allies that the channel’s leaders knew were false.
The network has defended itself on First Amendment grounds, arguing the claims coming from the president and others were newsworthy and accused Dominion of cherry picking quotes from its top talent and executives in court filings to build a stronger case.
A judge in Delaware is hearing arguments from both sides this week, and a ruling on summary judgement is expected ahead of a jury trial next month.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed..