FOX Launches Business Channel, Competes with CNBC
On Monday, Fox launched Fox Business Network (FBN) in an effort to broaden the business news audience and compete with business television CNBC. Its debut show featured interviews with Hillary Clinton, Alan Greenspan and Richard Branson.
The debut was met with lukewarm response, who had anticipated a splashier launch to compete with incumbent cable business news leader CNBC. Two of the three headliners FBN interviewed on its first day also appeared on CNBC: former Federal Reserve chief Greenspan and British entrepreneur Branson.
"I don't think this will change the entire landscape of American TV as we know it," said Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University. "So far, this morning, it's not been terribly exciting."
Looking back, Fox News was not an overnight hit either, taking four years before it topped CNN's ratings and has reigned ever since. "Before anyone knew what hit them, Fox News was sitting on top of the heap," Thompson said.
FBN is part of owner Rupert Murdoch's plan to dominate global business news coverage on air and in print, and follows News Corp's $5 billion deal to buy The Wall Street Journal's publisher, Dow Jones & Co Inc.
Published on October 17, 2007
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