"It’s possible to draw a fairly straight line from the provocative, sex-fueled shakeup of tabloid news in England 47 years ago by Fox News founder and News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch to the success of FNC soon after its launch in 1996. In 1970, Murdoch, one of the 20th century’s most audacious and successful media moguls, then the new owner of the British daily tabloid The Sun, approved the publication each day on page 3 of the paper of a photograph of an attractive young woman, usually blonde, completely naked from the waist up. Despite initial public disapproval and periodic protests, the practice continued for over four decades. According to an article about Page 3 at BT.com, circulation of The Sun doubled to 2.5 million one year after the launch of the graphic Page 3 photos."
"A G-rated version of this formula, adapted for the sensibilities of the 1990s and beyond, worked magic on cable TV in the United States when it was employed by the Fox News Channel."