CNBC vs Fox Business Network: CNBC Belly Up in Two Years

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/ap_on_tv_fox_business_cha/2007/10/14/40739.html

New Fox Channel Features Attractive Women

Sunday, October 14, 2007

NEW YORK -- Rupert Murdoch has entered a dark horse in high-stakes races

before, and won.

On Monday, the News Corp. media titan trots out the Fox Business Network.

Two years in the making, the channel will challenge General Electric Co.'s

highly profitable CNBC network as it seeks to redefine business news for

average Americans faced with increasingly complex decisions about their

financial futures.

Murdoch already has knocked CNN off the cable news throne with Fox News

Channel. Can he do the same to NBC Universal's profit machine, whose

audience of affluent professionals is one of the most sought-after

advertising targets?

"CNBC has a monopoly on an in-demand demographic, but never underestimate

Murdoch," said Porter Bibb, a managing partner at Mediatech Capital

Partners, a financier of media businesses. "Success might take a while, but

this is the right thing for them to do."

Fox defines success _ aside from ratings _ as expanding the business news

audience by "demystifying" the subject, according to Kevin Magee, the Fox

News executive vice president in charge of the new business channel. There

are plenty of people not watching business news because it's presented in an

"off-putting" way, he said.

Magee would not disclose the programming schedule, citing competitive

concerns. But FBN's flashy Web site promises the network will cut through

jargon to speak to the average investor, echoing comments by Murdoch last

month that his channel will be for Main Street instead of Wall Street.

Other executives at Fox News have said CNBC is not friendly enough to

business and focuses too much on scandal instead of positive corporate

deeds.

They "intend to target middle America," said Chris Roush, a business

journalism professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

That likely means coverage of such topics as how to save for retirement or

get the lowest credit card rates, or when is the right time to buy a house,

he said.

Bibb said that strategy could attract a solid audience: "Every poll shows

that people are concerned with economics above all else, except maybe war."

Although CNBC says it's not worried _ "The question isn't whether we're

ready for them, but whether they're ready for CNBC," said network president

Mark Hoffman _ it has already made changes that some see as a reaction to

Fox. CNBC has added a business newsmagazine, retooled its pre-market show

"Squawk Box" and added the personal investing program "Fast Money." Personal

finance guru Suze Orman has been hired for a weekend show.

Bloomberg TV, the only other dedicated business network, also has recently

spruced up its shows, putting more anchors on TV and less scrolling data.

The tactic of selling business news to the consumer has failed before _

CNNfn folded two years ago. Roush said CNN didn't invest enough time or

money in the channel, a mistake Murdoch is not likely to repeat.

Magee wouldn't disclose any cost figures or a timeline for reaching

profitability at FBN. SNLKagan media analyst Derek Baine estimates FBN will

lose about $185 million over four years before posting a profit in 2011. But

Murdoch has shown he is willing to spend heavily over long periods to get

what he wants.

Murdoch recently surprised the newspaper world with a rich, unsolicited bid

for Dow Jones & Co., netting him the crown jewel of business news

publications, The Wall Street Journal. He was derided 11 years ago when he

started Fox News Channel, but it charged past industry leader CNN in six

years and hasn't been caught since. Fox News averages 1.5 million viewers a

day, while CNN draws 758,000 _ virtually the same number as when it had the

field to itself.

Fox thinks it can expand the total number of niche viewers again, playing

down the idea of a direct competition with CNBC. "Our goal is essentially to

broaden the pie that watches business news," Magee said.

In charge of the new network is Roger Ailes, the man credited with changing

cable news by making Fox News a personality-driven channel. He also ran CNBC

in the early 1990s. Neil Cavuto, the popular Fox News Channel host with the

highest-rated business program on cable, is managing editor of business news

and will also work as an anchor.

Many of his colleagues are attractive young women with backgrounds in news

and business, led by Alexis Glick, a former CNBC correspondent and co-host

of NBC's Today Show. David Asman, host of Fox News's "Forbes on Fox," is

also expected to have a prominent anchor role.

The network landed its first bona fide business-world star last week: Carly

Fiorina, the former CEO of computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co.

known for her flamboyant personality.

"I like the talent they have hired, and I think they can deliver a

mainstream business program," Roush said. But that may not be what

advertisers want _ or the way to make money with a business channel.

CNBC attracts a wealthy audience of financial professionals and business

executives, which allows it to demand premium prices from advertisers. The

network collected $250 million in ad revenue last year, for an estimated

operating profit of $60 million, despite a paltry average daytime viewership

of 267,000. CNBC is available in 90 million of the nation's 110 million

households.

"It's not about ratings for CNBC, it's about the demographic," Bibb said.

Fox Business Channel, which will start in about 30 million households,

already has the distribution to get more viewers than CNBC. But if the

demographic is different, advertisers might not pay as much.

"They will have a much tougher time making money than people think," Roush

said.

And that, Bibb said, is why Fox has spent more time talking about the

incumbent than its own programs.

"Ailes is trying to convince advertisers that his network is a viable

competitor _ before it even has an audience," he said. "Fox wants to ride

the wave of high-priced advertising targeted at financial professionals that

CNBC has been mining." Those are primarily insurers and financial services

firms like ETrade and Ameriprise, and high-end travel and hotel companies.

"They're basically saying, 'Trust what we're doing here because of our

success with Fox News,'" said Sheri Anne Brill, a senior vice president at

Carat Group, a media services firm.

Brill says Fox will get the ad volume it wants because of Ailes and the

cachet of being with a potential winner from the start. Fox has said it can

deliver a well-heeled demographic, noting that its news channel's viewership

is more affluent than that of both CNN and MSNBC.

But Roush thinks FBN eventually will veer away from Main Street and fight

for the high rollers.

"This network will end up being a lot more like CNBC than what they let on,"

he said. "In six or nine months, we'll see a lot about Wall Street and the

stock markets."

Bibb said Fox probably would succeed if it went that way, because "Murdoch's

got an ace in the hole" _ The Wall Street Journal.

CNBC has an exclusive agreement with the paper through 2012, although

analysts expect Murdoch to try to buy out the deal. Magee said the contract

doesn't cover all Journal content, and that "the lawyers are going through

it."

When Murdoch gets his hands on the Journal, then the competition will really

begin, Bibb said.

"When he starts the WSJ Network or something with that brand, then he can go

head-to-head with CNBC _ and kick butt."

Patriot Games wrote:

Analysis of these seven regimes reveals fourteen common threads that

link them in recognizable patterns of national behavior and abuse of

power. These basic characteristics are more prevalent and intense in

some regimes than in others, but they all share at least some level of

similarity.

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism. From the

prominent displays of flags and bunting to the ubiquitous lapel pins,

the fervor to show patriotic nationalism, both on the part of the regime

itself and of citizens caught up in its frenzy, was always obvious.

Catchy slogans, pride in the military, and demands for unity were common

themes in expressing this nationalism. It was usually coupled with a

suspicion of things foreign that often bordered on xenophobia.

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights. The regimes themselves

viewed human rights as of little value and a hindrance to realizing the

objectives of the ruling elite. Through clever use of propaganda, the

population was brought to accept these human rights abuses by

marginalizing, even demonizing, those being targeted. When abuse was

egregious, the tactic was to use secrecy, denial, and disinformation.

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. The most

significant common thread among these regimes was the use of

scapegoating as a means to divert the people

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:14:26 -0400, "Patriot Games" <Patriot@America.com> wrote:

>Neil Cavuto, the popular Fox News Channel host with the

>highest-rated business program on cable, is managing editor of business news

>and will also work as an anchor.

One of the nicest guys on tv.....AAC

"AnAmericanCitizen" <NoAmnesty@earthlink.net> wrote in message

news:0ud8h35vg7d6oijfsepulq31019jq76hkk@4ax.com...

> On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:14:26 -0400, "Patriot Games" <Patriot@America.com>

> wrote:

>>Neil Cavuto, the popular Fox News Channel host with the

>>highest-rated business program on cable, is managing editor of business

>>news

>>and will also work as an anchor.

> One of the nicest guys on tv.....AAC

I agree!

It'll take a few years but I expect him to be at Cronkite-like status with

the new Fox Business Channel.

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:20:07 -0400, "Patriot Games" <Patriot@America.com> wrote:

>"AnAmericanCitizen" <NoAmnesty@earthlink.net> wrote in message

>news:0ud8h35vg7d6oijfsepulq31019jq76hkk@4ax.com...

>> On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:14:26 -0400, "Patriot Games" <Patriot@America.com>

>> wrote:

>>>Neil Cavuto, the popular Fox News Channel host with the

>>>highest-rated business program on cable, is managing editor of business

>>>news

>>>and will also work as an anchor.

>> One of the nicest guys on tv.....AAC

>

>I agree!

>

>It'll take a few years but I expect him to be at Cronkite-like status with

>the new Fox Business Channel.

>

I always thought the only reason Cronkite was treated like he was a God was due to

the fact that there were only three tv stations at the time that offered national

news and his show was the best. He's certainly showed his liberal leanings since

retiring....AAC

"AnAmericanCitizen" <NoAmnesty@earthlink.net> wrote in message

news:ftadh3p4qa5mi9skl1npl66j23vp4jj515@4ax.com...

> On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:20:07 -0400, "Patriot Games" <Patriot@America.com>

> wrote:

>>"AnAmericanCitizen" <NoAmnesty@earthlink.net> wrote in message

>>news:0ud8h35vg7d6oijfsepulq31019jq76hkk@4ax.com...

>>> On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 07:14:26 -0400, "Patriot Games"

>>> <Patriot@America.com>

>>> wrote:

>>>>Neil Cavuto, the popular Fox News Channel host with the

>>>>highest-rated business program on cable, is managing editor of business

>>>>news

>>>>and will also work as an anchor.

>>> One of the nicest guys on tv.....AAC

>>I agree!

>>It'll take a few years but I expect him to be at Cronkite-like status with

>>the new Fox Business Channel.

> I always thought the only reason Cronkite was treated like he was a God

> was due to

> the fact that there were only three tv stations at the time that offered

> national

> news and his show was the best. He's certainly showed his liberal

> leanings since

> retiring....AAC

He was by far the best. He was able to keep his ultra-left leanings out of

his work. Something that seems to have entirely disappear from ABC, CBS,

NBC, MSNBC and CNN.