1996, Cramer and some partners started TheStreet.com, an early venture into financial cyber-journalism. Cramer joined Fox (and worked without monetary compensation) in order to leverage the exposure he would get for his website. Ailes thought having Cramer would draw viewers to the new channel. It was a classic nineties example of the theory and practice of synergy.
“I told Roger when he hired me that I’m a lifelong Democrat. I’ve given the party a lot of money over the years. Roger was joyous. ‘Give more,’ he said. ‘I’ve got myself a real liberal.’ I always expected there would be a catch, but there wasn’t one.”
Cramer’s problem with Ailes wasn’t political, it was personal. Cramer is hypercompetitive, but he couldn’t match his boss’s even fiercer dedication to winning, or the burdens it placed on him.
“Roger believes that you need to win every hour in order to win the next hour. Ratings at nine depend on ratings at eight. And that’s a team effort. Let’s say you had a special coming up in the morning. The night before, you had to go on the prime-time shows in the last two minutes and hype it. You’d be on at 7:58, 8:58, 9:58, talk about what each host wanted to discuss and then at the end they say, ‘So Jim, I hear you’ve got a show coming up tomorrow on greedy bankers. Give us an advance peek.’ I’d say a few words about it and the host would go, ‘Wow! Tune in tomorrow for that,’ like they were enthralled. It wasn’t a true shill exactly, but it’s a way to build numbers.”
Many years before, Marjorie Ailes had gone to Roger’s boss at the Douglas show to complain about the hours. Now it was Karen Cramer’s turn to get indignant. “She was just pissed off at how much time I spent away from home. The pressure built up and I talked to Roger, but his attitude was, ‘This is the job, do it or not.’”
Cramer was under pressure from his investors to appear less on TV. They wanted him to give their money his full attention. His associates at TheStreet.com had different ideas about how he should spend his time. The cross-promotion they had envisioned at Fox wasn’t working well. Kevin English, the site’s CEO, convinced Cramer to hold a secret meeting with executives at CBS’s financial show,
Market Watch.
Ailes, who is exceptionally well informed about matters that concern him, found out about it and called Cramer in. Cramer describes the experience in his autobiography,
Confessions of a Street Addict.
“[It was] one of those meetings where he would stare at you with those tungsten eyes of his, the same eyes that had stared down everyone from Nixon to Manson. I knew he knew.” Ailes coldly reminded Cramer that they had a contract, and Cramer dropped the CBS initiative. But there was bad blood. A couple of months later, he was caught backstage on a hot microphone bad-mouthing Ailes. He apologized, but he knew he had crossed a red line. Soon after, he blew off a scheduled taping session. The final straw was mentioning his own stock as a buy on his show. By now, Cramer’s marriage was falling apart, and he was being medicated for anxiety, but Ailes was unsympathetic. “Roger just said that we have a contract, and that’s it. He fired me. We had worked together for two years but the truth is, he was right to fire me. And, despite everything, I still like him. He delivered on what he promised. I just wish, in retrospect, that I had, too.”
The story of Cramer became a cautionary tale at the new network. Certain things were fine. You didn’t have to be a Republican or a conservative. You could get away with coupling your commercial interests with your work as a commentator. You were welcome to be as eccentric as you liked. What you couldn’t do was flout the rules, which Ailes set out in the employees’ handbook and gave (and still gives) to new employees.
Excellence requires hard work, clear thinking, and the application of your unique talent. A desire to get better
“I told Roger when he hired me that I’m a lifelong Democrat. I’ve given the party a lot of money over the years. Roger was joyous. ‘Give more,’ he said. ‘I’ve got myself a real liberal.’ I always expected there would be a catch, but there wasn’t one.”
Cramer’s problem with Ailes wasn’t political, it was personal. Cramer is hypercompetitive, but he couldn’t match his boss’s even fiercer dedication to winning, or the burdens it placed on him.
“Roger believes that you need to win every hour in order to win the next hour. Ratings at nine depend on ratings at eight. And that’s a team effort. Let’s say you had a special coming up in the morning. The night before, you had to go on the prime-time shows in the last two minutes and hype it. You’d be on at 7:58, 8:58, 9:58, talk about what each host wanted to discuss and then at the end they say, ‘So Jim, I hear you’ve got a show coming up tomorrow on greedy bankers. Give us an advance peek.’ I’d say a few words about it and the host would go, ‘Wow! Tune in tomorrow for that,’ like they were enthralled. It wasn’t a true shill exactly, but it’s a way to build numbers.”
Many years before, Marjorie Ailes had gone to Roger’s boss at the Douglas show to complain about the hours. Now it was Karen Cramer’s turn to get indignant. “She was just pissed off at how much time I spent away from home. The pressure built up and I talked to Roger, but his attitude was, ‘This is the job, do it or not.’”
Cramer was under pressure from his investors to appear less on TV. They wanted him to give their money his full attention. His associates at TheStreet.com had different ideas about how he should spend his time. The cross-promotion they had envisioned at Fox wasn’t working well. Kevin English, the site’s CEO, convinced Cramer to hold a secret meeting with executives at CBS’s financial show,
Market Watch.
Ailes, who is exceptionally well informed about matters that concern him, found out about it and called Cramer in. Cramer describes the experience in his autobiography,
Confessions of a Street Addict.
“[It was] one of those meetings where he would stare at you with those tungsten eyes of his, the same eyes that had stared down everyone from Nixon to Manson. I knew he knew.” Ailes coldly reminded Cramer that they had a contract, and Cramer dropped the CBS initiative. But there was bad blood. A couple of months later, he was caught backstage on a hot microphone bad-mouthing Ailes. He apologized, but he knew he had crossed a red line. Soon after, he blew off a scheduled taping session. The final straw was mentioning his own stock as a buy on his show. By now, Cramer’s marriage was falling apart, and he was being medicated for anxiety, but Ailes was unsympathetic. “Roger just said that we have a contract, and that’s it. He fired me. We had worked together for two years but the truth is, he was right to fire me. And, despite everything, I still like him. He delivered on what he promised. I just wish, in retrospect, that I had, too.”
The story of Cramer became a cautionary tale at the new network. Certain things were fine. You didn’t have to be a Republican or a conservative. You could get away with coupling your commercial interests with your work as a commentator. You were welcome to be as eccentric as you liked. What you couldn’t do was flout the rules, which Ailes set out in the employees’ handbook and gave (and still gives) to new employees.
Excellence requires hard work, clear thinking, and the application of your unique talent. A desire to get better
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