The Rupert Murdoch media empire reaches a new level of visibility today with the launch of the Fox Business Network. In what is designed to bring competition to the heavyweight of television business programming – CNBC – Murdoch’s Fox Corp. said the new channel initially will be available to about 30 million cable and satellite subscribers across the country, including Denver.
That’s a far cry from CNBC’s reach of an estimated 92 million households. But Fox officials say they anticipate steady growth in viewers hungry for business news and advertisers enticed by affluent demographics.
Why invest undisclosed millions to take on an entrenched competitor?
“Because Rupert wanted it,” said a laughing Kevin Magee, Fox News’ executive vice president who will oversee day-to-day operations of the business channel.
“Anytime you see somebody with a monopoly that doesn’t have to be a monopoly, you say there’s a good business opportunity,” he said. “They (CNBC) have an 18-year head start, but Mr. Murdoch takes a long view. He made a determination that another business channel would be welcomed by the market.”
Others have failed, notably FNN and CNNfn.
Fox Business Network will broadcast from a glitzy studio in midtown Manhattan with anchors Neil Cavuto, a fixture on Fox News, and Alexis Glick, formerly of NBC’s “Today” show.
Murdoch, in a news conference earlier this year, said the network will be “more business-friendly than CNBC,” which he said tends to “leap on every scandal.”
Critics who perceive a politically conservative bias in Fox News expect similar content in Fox Business Network.
Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog of the media, said viewers can expect “rampant falsehoods, statements praising the Bush administration, suggestive questioning, scantily clad women, and celebrities discussing the news of the day.”
Magee’s response: “We’re operating on the assumption that people are tuned in because they like capitalism and they like money and they want to make more money.”
CNBC said in a statement that it would not comment on the new Fox offering. “We have established ourselves as one of the most respected voices in business news in the world,” the statement said. “We take all of our challengers seriously but we are very confident in our future.”
Business journalism professor Chris Roush at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said Fox’s prospects depend on finding new business-news viewers.
“I think Fox Business Network can be successful, but they’re going to have to differentiate themselves from CNBC if they want to draw an audience that CNBC isn’t getting,” he said. “That’s the biggest hurdle.”
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
Where to see it
Comcast: Starting in January on “Digital Classic” level. Channel 130 in metro Denver and other Colorado markets. Channel 134 in Colorado Springs.
DirecTV: Starting today on “Choice Xtra” level. Channel 359.
Dish Network: Has not yet disclosed if it will carry the network.
