Following the news Roger Ailes has signed a new five-year contract with News Corporation, he talks to the Los Angeles Times’ Matea Gold.

“I’ve got to build the business channel into a competitive force,” he says of FBN. “And at some point the advertising will come back on the station side. There’s plenty of work to do.”

He also gave a back-handed compliment to CNN’s election coverage success. “I think CNN did a good job, also. They bought enough equipment to outfit all the movie theaters in America,” he said.

Ailes responded to the report in the New York Daily News that he instructed FNC to tone down attacks on President-elect Barack Obama. He denied giving specific orders, but said he told staffers “all presidents deserve time to get their team on the ground and get organized.”

“We have some obligation in a new presidency not to attempt to destabilize it,” he said.

As for whether the big stars will heed the advice, he tells Gold: “Who knows? Most of them do whatever the hell they want.”