FOXA Fox Corporation

By Joe Flint 

Paul Rittenberg, the longtime head of advertising sales for Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, is stepping down at the end of April.

One of the first hires at Fox News before it launched in 1996, Mr. Rittenberg is credited as a key contributor to the financial growth of the cable news network.

Fox News was estimated by industry consulting firm SNL Kagan to take in a record $1.2 billion in gross advertising revenue in 2016, easily beating CNN and MSNBC. Fox News credited Mr. Rittenberg for helping the network achieve "operational break-even by doubling advertising sales every year" and said both channels had their most profitable years in 2016.

"Throughout his 20 plus years at FOX News, Paul has developed powerful relationships with clients and built one of the most respected and successful teams in the industry," said Fox News Co-Presidents Jack Abernethy and Bill Shine in a joint statement.

No replacement for Mr. Rittenberg, whose official title is executive vice president of advertising sales, has been named.

Mr. Rittenberg's early years running ad sales were a challenge. Fox News didn't start regularly beating Time Warner Inc.'s CNN in viewership until 2002, but for many years after CNN still drew higher rates for commercials. Not only did CNN have a 16-year head start in establishing itself as the cable news leader, the more conservative evening opinion shows on Fox News created an impression that the channel was more akin to talk radio than straight news, a sentiment that the network still pushes back against to this day.

"Perception lags reality," Mr. Rittenberg said in a 2004 Wall Street Journal article on Fox News' efforts to close the gap with CNN on ad rates. One of the issues Mr. Rittenberg had to wrestle with for years was that Fox News sold ads at very low prices when it was launching, and getting major advertisers to pay significant increases took time, despite the ratings growth at the network. Many advertisers had signed long-term deals that became bargains for many years.

"It has been one of my greatest honors to help build the FOX News brand from the ground up into the most successful and recognizable names in the industry," Mr. Rittenberg said in the statement. "I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish and am grateful for the opportunity to work with such a talented team."

Recruited to Fox News from CNBC by former Fox News Chairman and Chief Executive Roger Ailes, who had previously run CNBC, Mr. Rittenberg didn't fit the right-wing leanings of his boss. He even used to keep a copy of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" by Al Franken, the comedian turned Democratic Senator, in his office as a joke.

He is the second high-profile network sales head to exit parent company 21st Century Fox in the past 12 months. Last September, Toby Byrne stepped down as president of advertising sales for the Fox Networks Group, which includes Fox Broadcasting, cable networks FX and National Geographic and Fox Sports. Bruce Lefkowitz, executive vice president of ad sales, is overseeing the unit.

Fox News and Fox Business Network will continue to operate their ad sales separately from the rest of the company and report to Mr. Abernethy, a spokeswoman said.

21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal parent company News Corp share common ownership.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 27, 2017 14:23 ET (19:23 GMT)

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