A plywood board resting on two sawhorses was the anchor desk. There was a single camera, no prompter, and a small office tucked away from the construction zone. When I think of the early days of Fox News Channel, I remember the pre-launch days when Fox was still a dream and a wish. I was the first on-air person hired for Fox News Channel. My official start date was August 5, 1996, which was nearly two months before the first broadcast. But a few weeks earlier, I came to New York City to look for an apartment with my mother, and we were given a tour of the newsroom on C-1 (aka the basement). It was huge. Down to the studs, it was being transformed into the nerve center of the newest cable news channel.
During those first weeks, a ragtag crew of producers and writers and I were tasked with churning out practice newscasts to see how it would feel to do seven minutes of news at the top and bottom of every hour. It was a daunting task, as we were also creating a format and learning what worked and what didn’t. Pretty soon, we moved off-site to a rented studio to have greater access to cameras and equipment before the launch.
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In the summer of 1996, for those who are old enough to remember, the blockbuster movie “Independence Day” was released. It was a 20th Century Fox product, part of the Fox family. It made more than $100 million during its opening week. And I thought, “Wow! This cable network is bound for success if this is the kind of quality handiwork it puts out.”
That prediction proved truer than I could have imagined. Today, Fox News is the number one cable news outlet. It is a juggernaut that others are chasing and seeking to emulate, if only in style, if not substance.
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Studio space has expanded exponentially as Fox has taken over the entire ground level and several floors of 1211 Avenue of the Americas. The newsroom is a new, state-of-the-art facility on the second floor (the C-1 space is now a company fitness center).
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I’ve got a new office, which I continually fill to the gills with books about religion and theology. And many of the producers with whom I work today were not born yet or were still in diapers or pre-K when Fox launched in 1996.
Reflecting on 30 years, there’s so much to be thankful for. So much of what looked precarious became a blessing. That’s what life teaches us. I think that during three decades of change, ups and downs, tragedies and triumphs, joys and hopes, there has been one constant in my life: Fox News Channel. And I am forever grateful!
