At the moment, I am in pretty deep with Succession.

The Roy family is something to behold, and it’s hard not to draw parallels between them and other famous families.

Some say the Trumps, some say the Redstones (the owners of the CBS Corporation and Viacom), and some say the Hearsts.

If you’ve ever linked them to the Murdochs, though, then you’re pretty much on the money, because the similarities are very, very striking.

In a recent New York Magazine story, those links are laid bare. You can read that story in full, but we’ll get the summary via Esquire.

A warning that there are some spoilers below, so if you’re yet to get your binge on, you may want to sit this one out:

The premiere of Succession begins with patriarch Logan Roy reconsidering his plans to retire as the CEO of his company after he suffers a stroke. The New York Times Magazine cover story begins with Rupert Murdoch falling on his son’s yacht which caused a broken vertebrae and a spinal hematoma.

Both Logan’s scare and Rupert’s fall bring together their heirs to their hospital bedsides to battle it out over the future of the companies.

OK, could just be a coincidence. Except, the ‘siblings competing for power’ angle draws more parallels:

Rupert Murdoch has six children: Prudence, his daughter from his first marriage to Patricia Booker; Lachlan, James, and Elisabeth, from his second marriage to Anna Murdoch Mann; and Chloe and Grace from his third marriage to Wendi Deng.

Logan Roy has four children: Connor from his first marriage; Kendall, Roman, and Siobhan from his second marriage…

It is the oldest sons from the second marriages who are the heir apparents for Logan and Rupert: Kendall and Lachlan, respectively.

…the makers of Succession also seem to blend some of the biography and characteristics of the two Murdoch sons with those of the Roys. For instance, the Times says of Lachlan, “As James saw it, his brother was mainly interested in the unique fringe benefits and trappings of power that came with the job.”

In Succession, Roman’s character is more interested in having a powerful job than actually doing it. Lachlan was named deputy chief operating officer of News Corp. at age 33; Roman is named chief operating officer of Waystar, while Kendall is acting CEO during his dad’s recovery.

There are also striking similarities in how the push from traditional to digital media plays out.

One of my favourite episodes of Succession involves the Roy family retreat and therapy session, and it turns out that’s pretty much on the Murdoch money, too:

Murdoch tried to manage the tensions, arranging for group therapy with his children and their spouses with a counselor in London who specialized in working with dynastic families. There was even a therapeutic retreat to the Murdoch ranch in Australia. But these sessions provided just another forum for power games and manipulation.

Perhaps most obviously, there’s the fact that the Roy-owned news stations are basically conservative mouthpieces, and that’s right out of the Fox News playbook:

It’s been clear that Fox News is seen as the most powerful messaging tool of the Trump White House, but the Times story spells out how Rupert has built brands in the U.S., Europe, and Australia which have, more than any other media company, “enabled it, promoted it and profited from” the current right-wing populist movement.

In Succession, Logan tries to get around antitrust laws to purchase local TV stations to further push conservative messaging…

In terms of the sons’ politics, Kendall Roy seems more in line with James Murdoch, while Roman Roy would likely get along with Lachlan Murdoch. According to the Times, James wants the family media business to be “sensible to any attendee of Davos or reader of The Economist,” which suggests his politics are right of center.

Lachlan, on the other hand, wants to steer the company towards “an unabashedly nationalist, far-right and hugely profitable political propaganda machine,” the Times reports.

That’s Lachlan on the left, and James on the right, flanking Rupert Murdoch in the picture above.

If you prefer watching fictional dysfunctional families, as opposed to real-life ones, you can watch Succession on Showmax right now.

[source:esquire]