Fox News boss Rupert Murdoch says that he wants to keep anchor Megyn Kelly at the network, but if she decides to leave “we have a deep bench of talent, many of whom would give their right arm for her spot.”
Murdoch, in an interview published in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, also said that Fox News Channel hopes to keep Bill O'Reilly on the air in prime-time and that he doesn’t foresee major changes in the network’s direction after the Nov. 8 election.
Murdoch speaking publicly at this stage of negotiations to keep Kelly at Fox News was perhaps more startling than what he actually said. Murdoch has been chief executive at Fox following Roger Ailes’ departure this summer amid sexual harassment allegations, and is vice chairman of its parent company 21st Century Fox.
Kelly’s contract is up next year. But Fox would like to map out its future sooner rather than later, perhaps even settling Kelly’s status before the Nov. 15 publication of her book, “Settle For More,” for which she is expected to do promotional interviews.
