New York – A business news channel being launched by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. will debut Oct. 15, the company said Wednesday, presenting a head-on challenge to CNBC.
Fox Business Network will be available to at least 30 million cable subscribers in New York and other markets. Murdoch has said the network, which has been in the works for years, will be more “business friendly” than rival CNBC.
The announcement comes as Murdoch is pursuing a $5 billion takeover of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. The media mogul had hoped to use the newspaper’s brand to bolster the new network’s credibility, although that could be complicated by a content-sharing deal Dow Jones has with CNBC that runs through 2012.
Fox Business Network will be based at News Corp.’s headquarters in Manhattan.
