• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 15, 2019

Fox News Channel remains the highest-viewed cable network month-to-month. It continues to grab high advertising sales. Is that buzz sustainable for advertisers, given ongoing controversies around its prime-time opinion-based programming?

During its upfront presentation, Marianne Gambelli, president of advertising sales for Fox News Channel/Fox Business, said: "The voice of a few shouldn't stop you from marketing to consumers who will buy your brand."

For example, Fox News said its advertising revenue rose 6% in its most recent quarter. It pulls in roughly more than $1 billion a year in ad revenue. The continued pitch to ad executives is this: How can you avoid a cable TV network leading 2.6 million average Nielsen viewers in prime time and 1.5 million total day viewers?

Alluding to the lower-attention, more journalism-based hosts, Fox noted recent important news content from its news anchors. This includes Chris Wallace, who interviewed Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Martha MacCallum, who interviewed then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Despite the criticism, Fox is essentially considered a “state-run” media organization by many -- supporting anything the Trump Administration proposes. There are some questions from marketers concerning "brand safety" -- the cabler believes its journalists hold those in power accountable.

In a panel with other Fox News hosts, Laura Ingraham offers some criticism of President Trump, including this: “President Trump has stepped on his own message way too often.” Then curling up to marketers, she added, viewers “trust the brands that advertise on Fox. ... They are grateful to the companies that advertise.”

This looks like a would-be lure for TV marketers sitting on the fence, as well as those that departed certain prime-time shows because of inappropriate remarks.

TV marketers survive in a more competitive world of mostly ever-declining linear TV viewers -- especially live, linear TV viewers that TV news networks count on.

If Fox News, on a regular basis, continues to have more viewers than other cable TV networks, is it enough for advertisers to buy in — no matter how Fox defines its content for non-fiction programming?