And in breaking news ...

They most likely didn't want a few more weeks of airing admissions by their star personalities and Murdoch himself that they didn't believe the stolen election lies being put out by Trump yet aired them, and most of all dd not want to put Murdoch on the stand. Plus they and their lawyers already had run afoul of the judge who already had sanctioned them for foot-dragging in discovery, and appointed a special master to look into whether the attorneys knew they were lying when they said Murdoch had no active role in Fox News Corp although they finally had to fess up that he was CEO. They also waited until the jury was selected and seated before agreeing to the settlement which suggests they were convinced they didn't have a chance with the jury that was seated.

But the reprieve may be short lived for Fox. There are other defamation suits lined up, and they now all have access to what came out in discovery in this case.