Fox News is venturing into new territory—a stand-alone streaming service to be named Fox Nation, reports the New York Times. No cable package will be needed, with details about cost and the timing of the rollout sill up in the air. The service will not feature content from Fox TV news shows—contracts with cable companies prevent that—but it will feature cameos from the likes of Sean Hannity. CNN media writer Brian Stelter says this type of format is precisely what Fox had in mind when it hired firebrand Tomi Lahren last year.
"Fox Nation is designed to appeal to the Fox superfan," network exec John Finley tells the Times. "These are the folks who watch Fox News every night for hours at a time, the dedicated audience that really wants more of what we have to offer." The newspaper notes that Fox scored its highest-rated year ever in 2017, perhaps helped by one particularly devoted fan in the Oval Office. (More Fox News stories.)