Fox Corporation Acquires Red Seat Ventures

Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Piers Morgan

On Monday, the Fox Corporation announced its acquisition of Red Seat Ventures, a burgeoning digital media company known for aiding traditional media stars like Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, and Piers Morgan in developing their independent online programming.

Red Seat Ventures, along with its founders, brothers Chris and Kevin Balfe, will maintain their independence while operating under Fox’s Tubi Media Group, which is part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire specializing in digital and streaming initiatives. The terms of the purchase were not revealed.

The NYTimes reports the acquisition marks Fox Corporation's entry into the thriving online "creator economy," where former cable network personalities have ventured into self-produced content, garnering millions of subscribers on platforms such as YouTube and SiriusXM.

Red Seat's notable clients include Dr. Phil, Nancy Grace, Bill O’Reilly, Chris Hansen, and the "President’s Daily Brief" podcast. Recently, The New York Post, another Murdoch-owned entity, engaged Red Seat to launch a new daily podcast and an audio division for the newspaper.

The deal reconnects Carlson and O’Reilly, who were previously ousted from Fox News, with the Murdoch media conglomerate. Similarly, it brings back Megyn Kelly, who left Fox News for NBC in 2017. However, since Red Seat acts solely as a service provider, these personalities will not receive direct compensation from Fox nor report to its executives. It's worth noting that Tubi Media and Fox News function within different divisions of the corporation.

Established ten years ago, Red Seat has approximately 80 full-time staff and operates from a loft in Manhattan's NoMad district, a hotspot for tech startups. Their most popular offerings include the podcasts by Carlson and Kelly, which frequently top Apple’s podcast charts.

Chris Balfe, 46, serves as CEO of Red Seat. His career began alongside Glenn Beck, where he managed Beck's independent production efforts and co-founded TheBlaze, an early direct-to-consumer media company.