OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A senior Fox News executive who spent years with the network died suddenly from a heart attack at his home.
Senior Vice President of News & Politics Alan Komissaroff died at the age of 47. Baier said Komissaroff had been with Fox News since 1996, before its official launch.
“Tonight the @FoxNews family remembers our beloved colleague Alan Komissaroff, Senior Vice President of News & Politics. Alan, we will miss you dearly and our thoughts are with your family,” Baier tweeted along with a video clip of him breaking the news on his program.
He leaves behind his wife Rachael, and his children Ben, 17, and Olivia, 13.
“This is an extremely difficult day for all of us who worked closely with Alan, and we are completely heartbroken,” said CEO Suzanne Scott.
“Alan was a leader and mentor throughout FOX News Media who was integral to our daily news operations and played an indispensable role in every election cycle. The recent midterm election coverage was easily one of the finest nights of special coverage he produced throughout his career. And he was the ultimate producer: breaking news, politics, special events — there was no steadier or more trusted colleague to be with in the control room during the most consequential events of our time, and his incisiveness and passion for news made our work better,” Scott’s statement, along with network President Jay Wallace, added.
“He would joke that he was a guy from ‘real Brooklyn’ and rose through the ranks to become a writer, producer, showrunner and eventually Senior Vice President of News & Politics, overseeing all political coverage,” Scott and Wallace added. “His sharp sense of humor and quick wit throughout his incredible career also led to the many lifelong friendships he made here.”
“Our deepest condolences are with them and Alan’s entire extended family as we collectively mourn the loss of a wonderful man,” Scott and Wallace wrote.
“Missing our Senior Vice President of News tonight, Alan Komissaroff. He has passed away at the young age of 47. Praying deeply that his wife Rachael and their beautiful children will feel overflowing love and support,” Fox News host Harris Faulkner added.
Komissaroff spoke to Adweek in 2020 about how he approached Election Night coverage, Fox News reported.
“Election night is our Super Bowl, so we try to outdo ourselves every cycle,” he said.
Scott, along with Wallace and Komissaroff, have managed to build the most powerful cable news operation in the country over the span of the late senior VP’s career.
Baier came in second place in total viewers and the key 25-54 age demographic, but he only ‘lost’ out to another Fox News program.
“Baier scored 1.87 million total viewers, just behind top-rated The Five, which brought in 2.6 million total viewers on Wednesday. In the demo, Baier brought in 223,000 viewers, while The Five topped the charts with 256,000 demo viewers. As for network ratings, it is not close with Fox News dominating CNN and MSNBC.”
Fox News had 1.27 million total viewers as opposed to CNN with 485,000 and MSNBC with 848,000. And in the 25 – 54 demographic Fox News scored 163,000, far ahead of CNN with 94,000 and MSNBC with 83,000.
“Fox News’ lowest-rated show in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic nearly doubled MSNBC’s highest-rated show in the demo on Tuesday,” Mediaite reported. “Fox News not only swept the demo across all time slots, its lowest-rated show still outperformed CNN and MSNBC’s highest-rated program by a wide margin. Fox’s America Reports at 2 p.m. was its lowest performer in the demo, bringing in 221,000 viewers.”
“CNN’s top-rated show in the demo, meanwhile, was Erin Burnett’s OutFront — bringing in 147,000 demo viewers. MSNBC’s top-rated show was its 9 p.m. MSNBC Prime, which brought in 116,000 demo viewers, a little more than half of America Reports’ 221,000,” the report added.
