I have been a long time viewer of CNBC. It’s almost always on during the day. I was interviewed by Bill Griffith on the old FNN back in the summer of 1983 and over the years I have had several clients who have been on CNBC. So I have both a personal connection and a long term viewing habit that you would think would be difficult to break. But over the past few years I have found myself listening less and actually turning the channel off. The reason? I’m not quite sure. But I think Roger Ailes is on to something with the launch of Fox Business Network. My cable provider doesn’t offer it so I can’t comment on the launch but I found the following exchange in a recent WSJ interview to be quite interesting:
WSJ: The Fox Business Network launches on
Oct. 15 after two years of speculation and, to use your word,
"disinformation." I want to know what will viewers see.Mr. Ailes: So do I. We’re working on it… . We
think economic news is probably broader than what CNBC has been
presenting. We intend to cover the markets and cover Wall Street as
effectively as they do, maybe more, and add additional value. Beyond
that, there’s no sense in me talking about it because this is a launch,
and it’s a competitive launch….I will call a lot of audibles at the
line once the play starts. I will not stand around the sidelines with a
gamebook and a set of plays that I’ll stick to. I’ll change many things
in the first year, I’m sure.WSJ: What specific things has CNBC done in anticipation of Fox Business?
Mr. Ailes: The first thing they did was to say,
"Well, Ailes seems to be patriotic, so we’ll name it ‘America’s
Business Network’ and take that away from Ailes."… They’ve embraced
capitalism suddenly… . They have a tremendous advantage. They’re in
90 million homes. They have a 17-year head start. I put them on track
12 years ago….And we’ve announced when we’re going to come with our
programming in our 30 million little pathetic homes. If they can’t kill
us in the crib now, it’s only going to get worse for them day to day.WSJ: How will you surmount that?
Mr. Ailes: Well, if you study history, the
victories did not always go to the people with the great resources.
[Confederate Gen.] Stonewall Jackson seemed to be undermanned in every
campaign and won. [Union Gen. George] McClellan had plenty of resources
in every fight and lost. That isn’t always what matters….They’re
winning — because they’re a monopoly. They’re winning the same way CNN
was winning when we came on the scene with Fox News….Once you have
competition, it’s a different kind of fight.
I wouldn’t count CNBC out, but as I said, I think Ailes is on to something and it will be interesting to watch his execution. His description of calling audibles at the line as the plays develop happens to be the foundation of our campaign engine.
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