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Fox Business Network's boneheaded mistakes
Posted Nov 2nd 2007 4:31PM by Jonathan Berr
Filed under: Television, General Electric (GE), Marketing and advertising, News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World
Wow, the Fox Business Network hasn't even been on the air for a month, and its critics are already writing its obituary because the channel has made some boneheaded moves.
First, as Fox-hater Keith Olbermann noted, the News Corp (NYSE: NWS) channel did some "creative" editing of negative newspaper reviews and turned them into positive ones? Yesterday, Olbermann, the host of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, "awarded" network honcho Roger Ailes the title of "Worst Person in the World" because presumably mortal enemy Bill O'Reilly's evilness just wasn't up to snuff. This bit is part of Olbermann's shtick on his program which regularly outrages conservatives.
Of course, Ailes is far from the worst person in the world. At best, he and his boss Rupert Murdoch are in the top 10% of evil-doers, well behind the likes of Osama bin Laden, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and people who dress up their pets in Halloween costumes. But unlike many arch-villains, Ailes is a very creative and resourceful guy.
For instance, he's lined up Minyanville.com characters "Hoofy the Bull" and "Boo the Bear" to host a segment on the network's critically derided Happy Hour program. Is this idea going to win a Peabody? Of course not, but it's not the end of the world, either. Still, this feature wasn't a smart PR move, because it plays into the hands of Fox's many critics, including Joe Nocera of The New York Times, who have blasted the network for being too upbeat.
Competitor CNBC does its fair share of boot-licking, especially to its favorite talking heads, and occasionally pushes an optimistic view of capitalism that is probably not much different than Fox's. Sometimes the anchors seem to take it personally when the market goes down. Plus, CNBC does its share of ratings gimmicks too, such as Jim Cramer's visits to college. Nothing wrong with them per se, but it's unfair to single out Fox for doing what the General Electric (NYSE: GE) channel has done for years.
The thing that baffles me about Fox Business Network is the timing. Advertising is one of the first areas that gets hit during economic slowdowns. I wonder whether the advertisers who flocked to Fox Business when it launched will be there at the start of next year when the novelty has worn off. The overall advertising environment remains problematic.
Spending fell 0.3% to $72.59 billion in the first half of the year, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Cable TV spending rose 2.8%, while broadcast TV spending and spot TV spending dropped 3.6% and 5.4% respectively. Spending by financial services firms, a key advertiser for the business media, rose 3.5% to $4.49 billion. But given the turmoil on Wall Street because of the subprime mortgage meltdown, a cutback in advertising by these firms seems pretty likely.
The bigger, established news outlets will do just fine since they get their fair share of advertising from non-financial companies. But newer outlets like Fox Business and Portfolio.com have a tougher slog ahead because they lack a long track record with advertisers. These challenges, though, don't seem to be dissuading Slate.com from launching a new business site.
With so many sites vying for the same business news consumer, any new entrants to the market will need to reinvent the wheel as well, which is never easy.
Posted Nov 2nd 2007 4:31PM by Jonathan Berr
Filed under: Television, General Electric (GE), Marketing and advertising, News Corp'B' (NWS), Media World
Wow, the Fox Business Network hasn't even been on the air for a month, and its critics are already writing its obituary because the channel has made some boneheaded moves.
First, as Fox-hater Keith Olbermann noted, the News Corp (NYSE: NWS) channel did some "creative" editing of negative newspaper reviews and turned them into positive ones? Yesterday, Olbermann, the host of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, "awarded" network honcho Roger Ailes the title of "Worst Person in the World" because presumably mortal enemy Bill O'Reilly's evilness just wasn't up to snuff. This bit is part of Olbermann's shtick on his program which regularly outrages conservatives.
Of course, Ailes is far from the worst person in the world. At best, he and his boss Rupert Murdoch are in the top 10% of evil-doers, well behind the likes of Osama bin Laden, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and people who dress up their pets in Halloween costumes. But unlike many arch-villains, Ailes is a very creative and resourceful guy.
For instance, he's lined up Minyanville.com characters "Hoofy the Bull" and "Boo the Bear" to host a segment on the network's critically derided Happy Hour program. Is this idea going to win a Peabody? Of course not, but it's not the end of the world, either. Still, this feature wasn't a smart PR move, because it plays into the hands of Fox's many critics, including Joe Nocera of The New York Times, who have blasted the network for being too upbeat.
Competitor CNBC does its fair share of boot-licking, especially to its favorite talking heads, and occasionally pushes an optimistic view of capitalism that is probably not much different than Fox's. Sometimes the anchors seem to take it personally when the market goes down. Plus, CNBC does its share of ratings gimmicks too, such as Jim Cramer's visits to college. Nothing wrong with them per se, but it's unfair to single out Fox for doing what the General Electric (NYSE: GE) channel has done for years.
The thing that baffles me about Fox Business Network is the timing. Advertising is one of the first areas that gets hit during economic slowdowns. I wonder whether the advertisers who flocked to Fox Business when it launched will be there at the start of next year when the novelty has worn off. The overall advertising environment remains problematic.
Spending fell 0.3% to $72.59 billion in the first half of the year, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Cable TV spending rose 2.8%, while broadcast TV spending and spot TV spending dropped 3.6% and 5.4% respectively. Spending by financial services firms, a key advertiser for the business media, rose 3.5% to $4.49 billion. But given the turmoil on Wall Street because of the subprime mortgage meltdown, a cutback in advertising by these firms seems pretty likely.
The bigger, established news outlets will do just fine since they get their fair share of advertising from non-financial companies. But newer outlets like Fox Business and Portfolio.com have a tougher slog ahead because they lack a long track record with advertisers. These challenges, though, don't seem to be dissuading Slate.com from launching a new business site.
With so many sites vying for the same business news consumer, any new entrants to the market will need to reinvent the wheel as well, which is never easy.