The Fourth Network: How FOX Broke the Rules and Reinvented Television [Hardcover]

Daniel M. Kimmel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2004

When Garth Ancier left NBC for the start-up FOX network, NBC head Grant Tinker told Ancier he was making a terrible mistake. "I will never put a fourth column on my schedule board," Ancier recalls Tinker telling him. "There will only be three." Today, fewer than twenty years later, FOX is routinely referred to as one of the "Big Four" television networks while more recent arrivals like UPN, PAX, and the WB strive to be number five. The Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Barry Diller, and the many executives who have worked at the FOX network over the years changed the rules of the game. They showed it was possible to build and sustain a fourth American television network through innovations in prime-time shows, sports, children's entertainment, news, and new business models that challenged the assumptions of how the industry operated. Daniel Kimmel's lively account of the FOX story carries the reader from the launch of the ill-fated Joan Rivers Show in 1986 to the challenging media environment of the twenty-first century—an environment FOX helped create. The Fourth Network is filled with behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing, outsized personalities, improbable risk-takers, and the triumphs and disasters that led to such signature television series as The Simpsons, Beverly Hills 90210, The X Files, and America's Most Wanted. For better or worse—or perhaps a bit of both—the story of the rise of FOX is the story of contemporary American television.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

According to Peter Roth, FOX Entertainment Group's former president, the network's formula for success was simple: executives must "be nimble, be opportunistic and be aggressive." Kimmel, Variety's Boston correspondent, relates how FOX developed this mantra and eventually became a serious competitor to the Big Three networks. The key to the victory was timing and shrewd analysis of market research. FOX's two pioneering tactics, counter-programming and narrowcasting (delivering messages to a select audience), put them on the map. Airing Married... With Children against CBS's 60 Minutes was their breakthrough maneuver. FOX may not have won the time slot, but it generated buzz and attracted Gen Xers. By aiming for a sophisticated and upscale demographic, the network was able to lure specific advertisers. This strategy was a radical departure from the established tradition, which aimed at the general population. And on the programming front, the creation of The Simpsons, The X-Files and Ally McBeal cemented FOX's commitment to innovative programming. But Kimmel gives equal time to FOX's snafus. The tortured history of The Late Show with Joan Rivers is an object lesson in how egos can destroy an endeavor. Unfortunately, this kind of lively recital is infrequent. Kimmel's primary focus is business and negotiations. Innumerable executives and programmers, many of whom he has interviewed, are rarely portrayed with any distinguishing characteristics (a notable exception is the colorful Barry Diller). This is a solid but rather dry account of the birth of a network and its impact on TV.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Initially ridiculed as the "hanger network," meaning that it had a signal so weak that viewers would need hanger antennas to watch it, the Fox network has grown to be an influential force in broadcasting. Independent journalist Kimmel explores the growth of Fox from an outrageous idea entertained by Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch and entertainment executive Barry Diller, to its first major coup in luring Joan Rivers from her position as guest host of The Tonight Show to an ill-fated show of her own, to its position as a risk taker and trendsetter in television, with groundbreaking shows such as The Simpsons, The X Files, and America's Most Wanted. Kimmel offers a behind-the-scenes look at the corporate and financial machinations behind the creation of a fourth network 20 years ago, at a time when few could imagine a viable network beyond the Big Three. Fox took advantage of the segmentation of the market and filled niches that were neglected by the big networks, in the process changing standards for television programming. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566635721
• ISBN-13: 978-1566635721
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,171,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a lawyer turned film critic who loves to get his college students excited about old movies and get senior groups open to seeing new ones. My philosophy comes from George Burns: find out what you enjoy doing and get someone to pay you for it. My interest runs from romantic comedy to science fiction films (the subjects of my last two books), and also includes Hitchcock, film noir, the great westerns, Truffaut, musicals, Keaton, Wilder, and many others. In my books I try to convey my enthusiasm as well as my knowledge hoping to get the reader to want to see (or resee) the films.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How a risky launch turned into a billion-dollar creation, November 9, 2004

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fourth Network: How FOX Broke the Rules and Reinvented Television (Hardcover)

When Garth Ancier left NBC for the new start-up FOX network, he was told he was making a terrible mistake; but twenty years later FOX has become one of the 'big four' of TV networks. Boston TV critic and newspaper commentator Daniel M. Kimmel is in the perfect position to present the story of FOX's rise to power, what with his background as a TV and film critic and his law degree and film teacher experience. Chapters are lively as The Fourth Network explains how a risky launch turned into a billion-dollar creation.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent business book and a good read too, November 20, 2004

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Jo Reviewer (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Fourth Network: How FOX Broke the Rules and Reinvented Television (Hardcover)

What a great book this is! It's a good read and successfully balances business concepts and strategies, with lively descriptions of the personalities involved. Kimmel quotes many of the participants in this venture and provides a fast pace that entertains and educates at the same time. For the business school student or anyone with an interest in business, this makes an excellent case study. It should be required reading, especially for those who know odds are against creating a new thing in established territory. The people at Fox were smart, creative and gutsy; they defied the odds, gamed the system and won. And the author, Daniel Kimmel, really conveys the fast pace and atmosphere in which the Fox team must have operated. I am not an industry insider, so I feel like I really learned a lot about how networks are run, what the regulatory environment is like and the culture that developed at Fox. Great book. Highly recommended.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Pro-FOX Propaganda, Not a Scandalous Expos -- Just Good Reporting, May 9, 2006

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tvJeremy (California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fourth Network: How FOX Broke the Rules and Reinvented Television (Hardcover)

Wow! For anyone interested in the modern television landscape or anyone of my generation who grew up watching FOX (the broadcast network, mind you -- not the cable news channel) this book offers an incredibly well-researched history as well as tasteful commentaries on the network that "broke the rules and reinvented television."
The pleasure in reading comes from Kimmel's apparent respect for the network and what it has accomplished, but even so, he is not quick to shy away from the controversies and scandals that threatened to thwart FOX's climb.
The only disappointment of this book (as noted by the author in the acknowledgements) is that the FOX network itself did not help with Kimmel's research. Regardless, his many interviews with previous FOX employees and associates as well as drawing from countless newspapers and trade magazines offer more than enough information to make the book informative and consistently interesting.