Fox Business Network

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Fox Business Network
Logo for Fox Business Network
Launched October 15, 2007
Owned by News Corporation
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
720p (HDTV)
Slogan Start here. Start now.
Country United States
Broadcast area United States, Australia
Headquarters 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York City
Sister channel(s) Fox News Channel
Website foxbusiness.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV 359 SD (also in HD)
Cable
Available on some cable systems Check local listings for availability

Fox Business Network is a United States-based cable and satellite news channel that commenced broadcasting on October 15, 2007.[1] It is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. The network discusses business and financial news and currently is available to more than 30 million residents in the U.S.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch confirmed the launch at his keynote address at the 2007 McGraw-Hill Media Summit on February 8, 2007. Day-to-day operations are run by Kevin Magee, executive vice president of Fox News; Neil Cavuto manages content and business news coverage. Ray Hennessey directs the FoxBusiness.com website.[3]

Taping on the set of Money for Breakfast
Taping on the set of Money for Breakfast

Murdoch had publicly stated that if the purchase of the Wall Street Journal went through and if it were legally possible, he would have rechristened the channel with a name that has "Journal" in it.[4] However, on July 11, 2007, the parent company, News Corp, announced that the new channel would be called Fox Business Network (FBN).[5] This name Fox Business Network was chosen over Fox Business Channel due to the pre-existing abbreviation of 'FBC for Fox Broadcasting Company.[6]

The network is placed on channel 43 in the New York City market, an important market for financial news. It is paired with Fox News on the dial, which moved to channel 44. CNBC is on channel 15 under the Time Warner lineup in New York. [7] According to an article in MultiChannel News magazine, NBC Universal paid up to "several million dollars" in order to ensure that CNBC and Fox Business would be separated on the dial, and in order to retain CNBC's "premium" channel slot. [8] However, it is important to note that FBN is on only Time Warner analog in New York; in other markets, digital cable is required. [9] Verizon's FiOS TV, with 515,000 subscribers nationwide, also carries the network on its premier lineup (channel 94). Currently, Dish Network does not carry FBN.

On May 12, 2008, Fox Business Network revamped its daytime lineup, which included the debut of two new programs, Countdown to the Closing Bell and Fox Business Bulls and Bears.

[edit] Competition with CNBC

Studio F, the set for Fox Business Morning, Fox Business, and America's Nightly Scoreboard
Studio F, the set for Fox Business Morning, Fox Business, and America's Nightly Scoreboard

Before the network premiered, few specifics were made public as to the type of programming approach Fox Business is taking. However, some details emerged as to how it differentiates itself from its main competitor, CNBC.

  • At a media summit hosted by BusinessWeek magazine, Rupert Murdoch was quoted as saying CNBC is too "negative towards business". They promise to make Fox Business more "business friendly". [10]
  • It is expected that Fox Business will not be "poaching" a lot of CNBC's on-air talent in the immediate future, as most key on-air personalities have been locked into a long-term contract. However, that still leaves open the possibility of the network taking some of CNBC's other staff, including editors, producers and other reporters. [11]
  • News Corporation, the parent company of Fox Business and Fox News channels, has made a successful bid for Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal. However, CNBC has stated on air that it has a contract with Dow Jones until 2012. One potential issue down the road is the fact that CNBC operates several news bureaus under the same roof as the Wall Street Journal.

[edit] Programs

[edit] Weekdays

Programming schedule (current as of May 2008):

  • Fox Business Morning hosted by Jenna Lee & Connell McShane. Business headlines overnight and a preview of the business day ahead. (5-7am ET)
  • The Opening Bell on Fox Business hosted by Alexis Glick. Daily glimpse of what's expected to happen on Wall Street for the day, and reaction to the opening of the markets. (9-10am ET)
  • Fox Business hosted by Tom Sullivan, Cheryl Casone, Dagen McDowell, Brian Sullivan, Stuart Varney, David Asman & Liz Claman. Market coverage and daily stock market analysis. (10am-3pm ET)
  • Fox Business Bulls and Bears hosted by David Asman & Liz Claman. A wrap-up of the day's markets and daily stock market analysis. (4-5pm ET)
  • Cavuto Hosted by Neil Cavuto. A review of the day's business news, similar to Fox News' Your World. (6-7pm ET, re-air at 9-10pm ET)
  • America's Nightly Scoreboard Hosted by David Asman. (7-8pm ET, re-air at 10-11pm ET)

[edit] Personalities

FBN's control room
FBN's control room

David Asman, Cheryl Casone, Rebecca Gomez, Dagen McDowell, and Stuart Varney are anchors for Fox Business Network, although they will also keep their roles at Fox News. In addition, Brenda Buttner and Terry Keenan are also on the roster on FBN. [12] [13]

Other anchors named to the network include Peter Barnes, Jenna Lee, Nicole Petallides and Cody Willard. [14] Fox Business has also announced their first set of reporters; the list includes Jeff Flock (a CNN "original"), Shibani Joshi (from News 12 Westchester), and Connell McShane (from Bloomberg Television). [15] The network also added former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina [16]to the growing list of personalities, with Fiorina serving as a contributor to the network. [17]

FBN's control room screen
FBN's control room screen

Dave Ramsey announced on September 20, 2007 that he has signed on to have a one-hour prime time show, similar in format to his syndicated radio show.[18] Tom Sullivan announced on October 2, 2007 that he has signed on to have a two-hour financial show from 10am to noon ET (7am to 9am PT) on the new network. He will continue broadcasting his Tom Sullivan Show on the radio with plans to syndicate the show nationwide with the assistance of Fox News Radio. Adam Shapiro was added to the Fox Business Network to report from the Washington, DC Bureau. Shapiro was formerly at Cleveland's WEWS-TV and New York City's WNBC-TV. On October 18, 2007, former CNBC anchor Liz Claman joined the Fox Business Network at 2:00 PM EDT. She co-anchors the 2-3pm daypart of the Fox Business Network with David Asman. Her first assignment for Fox Business was an interview with Warren Buffett. Claman is reunited with her former CNBC worker Alexis Glick, both of whom worked at CNBC in the late 1990s into the early 2000s.

In April 2008, Brian Sullivan (no relation to Tom) joined the Fox Business Network, coming over from Bloomberg Television. Sullivan, who is reunited with his Bloomberg colleague, Connell McShane, now anchors the 10am-noon daypart with Dagen McDowell.

[edit] Anchors/Hosts

[edit] Reporters

These reporters are based in New York unless otherwise stated.

+ also acts as a substitute anchor/host

[edit] Contributors

[edit] Criticism

Fox Business has been criticized like CNBC[19] for the number of infomercials it airs overnight and particularly on weekends.[20][21]

In late 2007, in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" commentary segment, MSNBC news commentator/anchor Keith Olbermann named Roger Ailes as worst. Olbermann raised concerns that Ailes and FBN's marketing team used partial quotes pulled from newspaper reviews of the channel to promote FBN. A review by the Toronto Globe and Mail stated "They set out to change the face of financial news... and they darn well did. Now, please, change it back." The last sentence was left off the advertisement, which Olbermann said was misleading. [22]

The New York Times, and several other media outlets that day, reported that FBN had registered an average of 6,300 viewers, far below Nielsen's 35,000-viewer threshold. The number was so low that neither Nielsen nor FBN were allowed to confirm the number.[23] However the Times and other outlets noted the network is less than four months old and in one-third the households of CNBC.

[edit] International Broadcasting

The channel is broadcast to Australia via the Sky News Business Channel.[24][25] Other countries possible in the future include United Kingdom and Canada, although negotiations are still on-going with cable and satellite companies.[26]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Fox Business News debuts", Reuters, October 16, 2007. 
  2. ^ Fox Business Network blazes new trail. USA Today (2007-10-14).
  3. ^ Fox News Names Ray Hennessey Managing Editor and Director of Fox Business Channel Website. | Media & Telecommunications > Media Content from AllBusiness.com
  4. ^ Murdoch on Owning The Wall Street Journal - New York Times
  5. ^ Fox Business Network to Launch Oct. 15: Associated Press Business News - MSN Money
  6. ^ mediabistro.com: TVNewser
  7. ^ Fox Business Lands Channel 43 in NYC - 9/5/2007 10:18:00 AM - Multichannel News
  8. ^ NBCU Nets Dial Up In New York City - 9/5/2007 3:07:00 PM - Multichannel News
  9. ^ Fox Business Network Launch Costs NBC Universal - 9/7/2007 5:48:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable
  10. ^ Q4 Launch for Fox Business Channel - 2/8/2007 11:33:00 PM - Multichannel News
  11. ^ CNBC is facing scary times - as usual - MarketWatch
  12. ^ Fox Business Network Names On-Air Team, Executive Producers - 9/13/2007 2:20:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable
  13. ^ Inside Cable News :: FBN names five anchors from FNC business team… :: September :: 2007
  14. ^ mediabistro.com: TVNewser
  15. ^ Inside Cable News :: More FBN hires… :: September :: 2007
  16. ^ In an 10 October 2007 article in Daily Variety, it was reported that Fiorina had signed with Fox Business Network to become a frequent business commentator on the newly-formed cable network, intended to be a competitor to the CNBC cable network. Michael Learmonth. "Fox cabler signs Fiorina", Daily Variety, October 10, 2007, p. 4. 
  17. ^ mediabistro.com: TVNewser
  18. ^ Fox Business Network Names Radio Show Personality Dave Ramsey As Primetime Host
  19. ^ Inside Cable News: Infomercials and Fox Business Channel
  20. ^ Inside Cable News: Informercial wars…
  21. ^ Fox Biz blasts CNBC's infomercials… plays more infomercials
  22. ^ "Fox Business News". Countdown with Keith Olbermann. 2007-11-01.
  23. ^ Stelter, Brian and Jacques Steinberg. Few viewers for infancy of Fox Business. New York Times. 4 January 2008.
  24. ^ Foxtel adds Business Channel
  25. ^ Sky to launch Australia's first business channel
  26. ^ reportonbusiness.com: Purchase this article

[edit] External links

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