New Fox Channel Will Give Viewers a Big Dose of ‘Reality’

Fox is really sinking its teeth into “reality” TV.

News Corp. announced Tuesday that it was launching the Fox Reality Channel early next year on cable and satellite services. Rupert Murdoch’s company, which will spend nearly $100 million to start the channel, is aiming to be the dominant player in an increasingly crowded field.

There is already a flood of reality shows on broadcast and cable, and several upstart cable channels devoted to the genre. Reality TV runs on EchoStar Communication Corp.’s Dish Network. Another channel, Reality Central, is set to be launched later this year.

Fox “may be late to the ballgame. The networks are pretty saturated with reality TV,” said Scott Black, president of Delphi Management Inc. “We’re past the peak of reality TV. But some of these shows will have legs for a few more years.”

Tony Vinciquerra, president of the Fox Networks Group, dismissed the notion that Fox was slow to respond.

“We’ve been planning on this for a couple of years, and we feel that we are taking a very disciplined approach to make sure that we launch it correctly,” Vinciquerra said. Besides, he added, “there’s more than enough product out there.”

Fox Reality Channel, which will target the young adult viewers prized by advertisers, will be Fox’s ninth network. In the last four years, Fox has launched an average of one network a year, including “Fuel” last year, which features surfing and skateboarding and is available in 12 million homes.

Fox’s reality channel will have an advantage over its rivals because of the company’s deep pockets, recognizable name, relationships with cable operators and News Corp.’s control of DirecTV. Vinciquerra said Fox hadn’t reached any agreements for the channel to be carried on cable or satellite.

The channel’s line-up is likely to consist of new series produced by other Fox units, outtakes of contestant interviews and repeats of popular reality shows. Some question whether there will be widespread interest in re-watching reality shows such as Fox’s “Joe Millionaire.”

Fox executives said it was too soon to say what shows might have an encore run on the new channel. “There are a number of concepts that we have in the factory,” Vinciquerra said.

Bloomberg News was used in compiling this report.