Jan. 6 Coverage, A New Laura Ingraham Series, And Two Senators Debate

Fox Nation tends to get a fraction of the coverage that CNN garnered for its short-lived streaming service CNN+, which is a bit surprising for a host of reasons — not the least of which is that the former streaming platform is attached to the cable news network that’s spent 20 years now at #1.

A new Fox Nation series debuting on Wednesday and hosted by Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, meanwhile, is as good an example as any of the differentiated manner in which Fox has cultivated its own streaming service. For one thing, the news network has never positioned Fox Nation as some kind of platform on which to build a post-TV news future of the network. That’s the road CNN went down, and not even one month plus some $300 million later, it’s clear that approach didn’t work out so well.

At a cost to subscribers of $5.99/month, on the other hand, Fox Nation is a nearly 4-year-old streamer that’s meant to be an additive experience, geared especially towards Fox superfans — to those consumers who want more, in other words, of what they’re already getting from Fox News on TV. The result? Fox Nation shows, like Ingraham’s new three-part Hidden Gems with Laura Ingraham, in which the star Fox host will travel the country spotlighting some of its most “special treasures,” according to Fox.

Also this month, in terms of what other kinds of content subscribers can access via the streamer, Fox Nation has live-streamed coverage of the congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack at the US Capitol. The platform also streamed a one-hour policy debate between US Senator Lindsey Graham and Bernie Sanders, an event organized by the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.

New Laura Ingraham show

“Because there is so much bad news out there, it’s easy to miss the wondrous people and places that tell the enduring story of America,” Ingraham shared with me about her Fox Nation show, which kicks off in Wyoming and finds Ingraham touring the National Museum of Military Vehicles between the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park.

“From self-taught artists to war-time innovators, the ‘hidden gems’ we feature will, I hope, inspire and enrich Fox Nation viewers as much as they did me.”

Ingraham — the most-watched woman in cable news, according to the latest Nielsen data — will in episode two take viewers to New Orleans, to detail the history behind the iconic floats of Mardi Gras. She’ll wrap up in the historic Pennsylvania neighborhood of Germantown, for a chat with an austic artist about his work in the area.

Other Fox Nation shows

In addition to shows like Ingraham’s new series, the Fox Nation library includes something on the order of 5,000 hours of content — from lifestyle and entertainment content to documentaries and, of course, conservative opinion programming from the news network’s highest profile personalities.

The kinds of docuseries on offer here also include American Dynasty, which is coming to Fox Nation on June 27. This 8-episode series will explore the colorful backstories of American aristocracies, from the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers to the Ford, Getty, du Pont, Morgan, Kennedy, and Bush dynasties. Special guests will include John D. Rockefeller’s great-grandson, David Rockefeller; the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s son Patrick J. Kennedy; and with commentary provided by guests including former late-night icon and car enthusiast Jay Leno, who’ll talk about the Ford family.

Later this year, meanwhile, the star of one of the current top-rated TV dramas — Kevin Costner, of Paramount Network’s Yellowstone — is headed to Fox Nation to helm a four-part docuseries in honor of, fittingly for the star, Yellowstone National Park.

Costner will narrate and host Yellowstone: One-Fifty, which is set to arrive in the fourth quarter on Fox Nation. Developed by Costner’s Territory Films along with Warm Springs Productions, the series is timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the park this year — and Fox adds that the four episodes will be released “consecutively on the platform throughout its debut week.”