Former Fox News chief Roger Ailes dies at 77

The former Fox News chairman was credited with making the channel a ratings powerhouse over his 20 years at the helm.

Roger Ailes speaks at a Jan. 30, 1996, news conference with Rupert Murdoch after it was announced that Ailes would be chairman and CEO of Fox News. Ailes was hired to create the channel as an alternative to the established TV news networks, targeting an audience outside the New York-Washington media nexus.

At a 2003 news conference, Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, right, speaks with, from left, Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), and Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes after announcing that the Congressional Black Caucus would partner with the channel to host two presidential debates.

Ailes with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, right, in New York in 2005.

Roger Ailes, shown in 2006, resigned from Fox News on July 21, 2016, amid sexual harassment charges.

Ailes speaks during the Summer Television Critics Assn. Press Tour in Pasadena in July 2006.

Roger Ailes at the premiere for “Kingsman: The Secret Service” on Feb. 9, 2015.