Happy 17th Birthday, Fox News 23 J.K. Trotter 10/07/13 12:52PM Filed to: celebrations celebrations fox news roger ailes Roger Ailes’ cable news operation went live on October 7, 1996. 17 years and several wars later, Fox News remains as lively and accurate as ever. To celebrate, the channel bought a bunch of enormous Microsoft touch-screen computers.We can’t wait until it turns 21.