Monday, January 4, 2010

Cluck You Fox!

Yesterday began my official boycott of anything owned by Rupert Murdoch including Fox TV, Fox News (which I never watched anyway), FX and whatever other TV stations he controls. I never read the newspapers and magazines he owns, except for the Wall Street Journal, but I don’t subscribe to the WSJ. I will however, purposefully NOT link to any articles on the internet that I see originates from the WSJ. I know I can get my information elsewhere.

Rupert Murdoch’s greed got the better of him when he threatened to take his stations and leave the sandbox. At issue was the money for stations that we viewers can get for free if we don’t have cable – FX, Fox, and others. Murdoch wanted Time Warner to start kicking in money to have these stations included on basic cable. If they didn’t, those stations would be pulled from Time Warner’s list of options to their customers.

I decided that I was sick of all of this. I took stock of the few shows I watch on the Fox stations and decided I can live without them. They are Bones, American Idol and NFL Football (oh, and my guilty pleasure – Wendy Williams – but she re-airs on the BET network). I love Bones and have been a huge American Idol fan since the beginning, but it’s not worth it anymore. It’s not like I don’t have other, more important, things to do with my time anyway. And besides, I can listen to my local teams’ games on the radio – until that too is taken from me, I suppose.

This has nothing to do with politics, although the fact that his politics repulses me makes this easier; it has everything to do with money and how the public are pawns between two large corporations. Since Fox was holding Time Warner over the coals, at our expense, I thought about what not having access to any of their stations would be like. I realized it wouldn’t be that bad.

So, Cluck You Fox! Good-bye Bones; I can watch reruns on TNT. Good-bye American Idol; the world won’t stop spinning of I don’t watch you. Good-bye NFL on Fox; you are just a game anyway.

I feel better already.

1 comment:

  1. Info on some of Murdoch's holdings which I will be boycotting...

    Books

    Imprints, primarily under the HarperCollins umbrella, include -

    * HarperCollins
    * Perennial
    * Cliff Street Books
    * The Ecco Press
    * Quill
    * HarperAudio
    * Regan Books
    * Amistad Press
    * William Morrow
    * HarperTorch
    * Eos
    * HarperEntertainment
    * HarperSanFrancisco
    * HarperInformation
    * HarperBusiness
    * HarperResource
    * Fourth Estate
    * Access Travel
    * William Morrow Cookbooks
    * Branded Books Program
    * HarperCollins Children's Books
    * Greenwillow Books
    * Joanna Cotler Books
    * Laura Geringer Books
    * HarperFestival
    * HarperTrophy
    * Avon
    * Tempest
    * HarperCollins International

    Terrestrial broadcast, cable & satellite

    United States

    * Fox Broadcasting Company (discussed in a supplementary note elsewhere on this site)
    * 85% of Fox Entertainment Group Inc which includes ...
    * Fox SportsWNVW - New York City
    * KTTV - Los Angeles
    * WFLD - Chicago
    * WTXF - Philadelphia
    * WFXT - Boston
    * WTTG - Washington D.C
    * KDFW - Dallas
    * WJBK - Detroit
    * WAGA - Atlanta
    * KRIV - Houston
    * WJW - Cleveland
    * WTVT - Tampa
    * KSAZ - Phoenix
    * KDVR - Denver
    * KTVI - St Louis
    * WITI - Milwaukee
    * WOFL - Orlando
    * WOGX - Ocala
    * WDAF - Kansas City
    * KSTU - Salt Lake City
    * WHBQ - Memphis
    * WGHP - Greensboro
    * WBRC - Birmingham
    * WPR - Chicago
    * KTBC - Austin
    * KVC - Austin Fox Sports Net
    * Fox Sports South
    * Fox Sports Pittsburgh
    * Fox Sports Southeast
    * Fox Sports Midwest
    * Fox Sports Rocky Mountain
    * Fox Sports Arizona
    * Fox Sports Northwest
    * Fox Sports West
    * Fox Sports Detroit
    * Fox Sports Bay Area (with Rainbow Media Holdings)
    * Fox Sports Chicago (with Rainbow Media Holdings)
    * Fox Sports Cincinnati
    * Fox Sports Intermountain West
    * Fox Sports New England (with Rainbow Media)
    * Fox Sports New York (with Rainbow Media)
    * Fox Sports Ohio (with Rainbow Media)
    * Fox Sports Southwest (with Rainbow Media)
    * Madison Square Garden Network (with Rainbow Media)
    * FiT TV
    * The Health Network
    * Fox Sports World
    * FX
    * National Geographic's cable channel (50% with GE and National Geographic)
    * Golf Channel (33%)
    * The Family Channel
    * MTM Entertainment
    * Fox News Channel
    * FxM
    * Outdoor Life (34%)
    * Speedvision (34%)
    * TV Guide Channel (44% with Liberty Media)
    * 34% of Hughes Electronics (satellite broadcaster DIRECTV with over 11 million subscribers in the US, 81% equity in satellite operator PanAmSat, and Hughes Network Systems)

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