Rupert Murdoch made huge amounts of money running right-wing populist newspapers in the UK, Australia, and New York. He presumably thought a cable TV channel which operated on the same principles would also be successful. Financially, it was, but it is also a monster.
The right-wing populist formula had a different impact when it became available to a vastly larger audience in a country that was already badly divided on issues of culture. Fox News threw gas on the fire. Instead of providing harmless entertainment and helping frustrated reactionaries blow off steam, it effectively promoted civil war for profit.
Today, a frighteningly large segment of the America public gets its ideas about politics and culture almost exclusively from Fox News. It sets the agenda and tells people what to believe. It is Rush Limbaugh to the nth power.
Unless the Murdochs see the light, Fox will continue to present a clear and present danger to liberal democracy in America. It is thus a key player in the devolution of the GOP into, as Ben Sasse put it, “the weird worship of one dude.”