Rupert Murdoch is set to face his kids in court, with Fox News’ fate in the balance

The future of Fox News — one of the most influential players in television and conservative politics — appears likely to be determined, improbably, by a probate court official in Reno, Nevada. Absent a last-minute settlement, the trial begins Monday.

The proceedings more broadly involve the disposition of 93-year-old Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire, which also includes the Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, the Australian and the New York Post.

Murdoch wants to amend his trust to hand off full control to his eldest son, Lachlan, who is currently running their companies. Lachlan’s three eldest siblings — those who are poised to share control of the business with him after their father dies — oppose the change. The two youngest children — daughters from Rupert Murdoch’s third marriage — share equally in the financial bounty, but have been promised no control.

The stakes and arc of the family’s struggles are Shakespearean and inspired the HBO drama Succession; the pettiness can sometimes seem Seinfeldian. The court battle is about money and power, but also whether Fox News should remain relentlessly partisan and right-wing as part of a business plan to yield the best results.

Lachlan’s siblings appear to be less enamored of the hard-right line. His only brother, James, has become increasingly critical of the network's pro-Trump and often anti-news populism embraced by the network.

“If they were to change the direction and move [Fox News] into the direction of a CNN format, or go down the middle, it will lose its identity, lose viewers and lose revenues,” says Joe Peyronnin, a veteran network news executive who served as Fox News president in its earliest stages, in the mid-1990s.

“I say that as someone who is a