MIFFED

Fox News Chief Infuriated at Palin

For announcing non-candidacy on another program.

Fox News has always been loyal to Sarah Palin, so when the former Alaska governor announced on another program that she wouldn't be running for president in 2012, Fox chief Roger Ailes was so ticked off he even considered pulling her off the air entirely. After she made the Oct. 5 announcement on Mark Levin's conservative talk-radio show, Ailes apparently felt Palin had robbed Fox News of a well-deserved exclusive that could have potentially skyrocketed the network's ratings. "I paid her for two years to make this announcement on my network," Ailes allegedly told Bill Shine, Fox's executive vice president and Palin's main point of contact with the network. But Palin apparently made the decision because she was miffed that Fox News had given a platform to Karl Rove, one of her biggest critics. Levin, meanwhile, had become her biggest fan among conservative commentators. Palin's contract with Fox News ends in 2013, and while Shine has tried to smooth things over, it's unclear whether the conflict with Ailes will interfere with her future on the network.