Is Fox News Corp. turning Blue?

The scales Rupert Murdoch uses to determine "fair and balanced" are about to turn decidedly blue if he succeeds in selling off 9 of Fox News Corp's 35 broadcast stations, as reported in todays New York Times.

The Times reports "The stations are generally in the smallest markets served by the News Corporation’s 35-station television group." This rationale is more obtuse in the Hollywood Reporter which states "Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. plans to sell nine of its Fox network-affiliated TV stations in smaller markets where it has no duopoly to raise cash it can redeploy into growth areas or for possible acquisitions."

A review of the stations for sale shows that Milwaukee (#17), Memphis (#18), Denver (#26), Kansas City (#38) and St. Louis (#53) are not even close to the "smallest markets" served by News Corp. They are holding on to Ocala, FL with a population of under 60,000, not even rated in top US markets. They seem to be consolidating their position in Central Florida holding onto not only Ocala, but Tampa Bay and Orlando. Similiar patterns are seen Texas where Fox News Corp tenaciously holds it's Dallas, Houston and Austin city limits coverage.

With a pending offer to buy the Dow-Jones and Wall Street Journal, Murdoch appears to be positioning his company to ride the wave of Progressive change sweeping America. Consider that 8 of the 9 stations offered for sale are in Red States that voted Conservative in 2006. Fox TV current holdings include 21 stations in Red States and 15 stations in Blue States.

If News Corp. is able to fulfill it's sales plan the new holdings would be 14 stations in Blue States and 11 stations in Red States. What's also interesting is 7 of the 9 stations offered: Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Memphis and Birmingham would appear to divest Fox News Corp of a vertical swath of the American heartland.

Clearly Murdoch, transplanted to the US from his native Australia, has been a shrewd predictor of trends in demographics as he built News Corp. The question, at this time in history, is whether he is practicing the preaching of his forerunner in cable news, Ted Turner, who openly stated "Lead, Follow or Get the F#*k out of the way".

UPDATE: According to this Reuters 6-15-2007 story, there are already signs that Murdock is setting his course.