Previously known as CBN Cable, and, later,
The Family Channel (after most of the religious programs were purged; it was
then spun off into the International Family Entertainment IPO), it was
purchased (handsomely) by Rupert Murdoch and merged with a similar Fox
cable channel. (The channel's name was later shortened to Fox Family). It follows the pattern of Murdoch lining the pockets of his
political allies, and follows the pattern of Pat Robertson's hypocrisy, since he always decried the sleaze on Fox.
Now, pending the paperwork and haggling, it (as well as
Fox Kids Europe and Latin America) will become part of the
Disney family of <SARCASM>fine broadcast networks</SARCASM>. (Cost: $3.2 billion in cash, and the assumption of $2.1 billion in debt). It was, in fact, Disney who was easily the highest bidder the previous time around, when
Fox/NewsCorp won -- the difference was that Mr. Murdoch promised to allow Pat to keep two hours of weekday airtime (10 AM Eastern Time, with an 11 PM rebroadcast) for
The 700 Club, the Robertson family media/political
cash cow, from which emanated its many purely-cash cash cows -- e.g. the
African Development Company; while Disney balked at this, Fox was willing to let Pat have the two hours
in perpetuity, with only the formality of renewing this side deal every five years. Now that Disney has won this prize again (and it
is a prize; though viewership was never all that good, a vast number of
US cable systems carry Fox Family, perhaps due to Pat's clout in
Middle America during the channel's formative years), two parties -- Disney's
Michael Eisner and
800-pound FFC shareholder Dr. Robertson, an even stranger pair of
bedfellows than Robertson/Murdoch -- have to either agree to keep the
700 Club deal intact (which would pain the liberal Eisner), or buy off the Robertson family. This is unresolved as I write this (
September 22, 2001) , but I've seen $75-100 million dollars floated around as the buyout price for the
rider -- above and beyond what's being paid for the shares.