Jeff Flock Interview…

Warner Todd Huston interviews FBN’s Jeff Flock for Publius’ Forum… (via J$)

For his part, reporter Jeff Flock provided some of his analysis on the GOP filed from which Illinois will choose this primary election day.

“If you are a deficit hawk there is not much difference between the three front runners. Romney, Santorum and Gingrich all push lower taxes, spending cuts and changes to the Social Security and Medicare programs,” Flock said. “All would, by most economist’s measures, add trillions to the deficit over the next decade. Only Ron Paul’s plan would cut the deficit over time.”

FBN Daytime Changes…

Investor Place’s Jeff Reeves writes about changes coming to FBN dayside… (via J$)

While Dagen McDowell and Connell McShane will remain anchoring at 11 a.m., the volatile Dennis Kneale will soon join Cheryl Casone to host the noon hour. Melissa Francis – FBN’s newest add – and Lori Rothman will continue co-hosting the 1 p.m. hour, with Tracy Byrnes and Ashley Webster taking over as the new hosts of the 2 p.m. slot.

Another Imus Controversy?

I received the following email this afternoon regarding this morning’s Imus…

Sometimes they play around with the fighting but today is seemed real and cringe worthy, I happened to tune in, the 8am hour I believe, and Dagen McDowell was ranting at Don that she’s been in the financial business for many years and should not be disrespected. Not sure but I think she might be been referring to be disrespected because she a woman. Don responded that he’s won three Marconi awards and is a very successful talk show host.

I haven’t been able to find a clip of this segment so I can’t vouch for the accuracy of this summary. That said, some people did express concern to Dagen on Twitter about it…

@dagenmcdowell U r the best! Don’t let Imus & gang bully u!

@dagenmcdowell I usually find the humor on Imus funny — so, I get it. He was way out of bounds with you this morning. NOT funny.

Dagen’s response to both was polite but restrained. She acknowledged their tweets without either defending or not defending Imus. Make of that what you will. If there was any real fire to this morning’s alleged smoke we’ll find out soon enough because Imus controversies tend to resurface on Imus’ air.

Salem Radio to Launch Daily Lou Dobbs Financial Report…

Salem Communications announced that Lou Dobbs will be doing a daily financial report for the company’s radio network… (via Talking Biz News)

Salem Radio Network Announces Launch of “Lou Dobbs Financial Report” Weekdays on SRN

CAMARILLO, CA, Feb 13, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — The Salem Radio Network (SRN), a division of Salem Communications Corporation SALM +2.77% , today announced that Lou Dobbs is joining SRN for the launch of “Lou Dobbs Financial Report.” The new business features will air three times each weekday: prior to the Opening Bell on Wall Street, a Midday business report, and a daily Market Close update. “Lou Dobbs Financial Report” will premiere on SRN Monday, February 20, 2012.

Greg Anderson, President of SRN, stated: “Lou Dobbs is one of the most respected names in American financial reporting. We are delighted to have Lou join SRN which will make his expertise and credibility available to radio stations coast-to-coast.”

Lou Dobbs added: “There has never been a time in American history when up-to-the-minute Business Reports were more important to men and women from coast to coast. I’m really looking forward to my new partnership with SRN and the opportunity it provides to reach an entire new audience on a daily basis.”

FBN Primetime Overhaul…

FBN announced that it’s altering its primetime landscape considerably… (via Mediaite)

FOX Business Network (FBN) will debut a new primetime schedule featuring encore presentations of the channel’s top post-market programs, announced Kevin Magee, Executive Vice President of the network. Starting February 20th at 8 PM/ET, viewers will find additional airings of The Willis Report (5PM & 8PM/ET), Cavuto (6PM & 9PM/ET) and Lou Dobbs Tonight (7PM & 10PM/ET). The new lineup will replace FreedomWatch with Judge Andrew Napolitano, Power & Money with David Asman and Follow the Money with Eric Bolling.

In addition, FBN is developing a new 5PM/ET program hosted by Melissa Francis who joined the network from CNBC earlier this year. The show will debut in the second quarter, at which point The Willis Report will move to 8PM/ET, enabling FBN to be the only business network providing viewers with uninterrupted live coverage of financial news from 5AM/ET to 9PM/ET.

In making the announcement Magee said, “Neil Cavuto, Lou Dobbs and Gerri Willis are the most trusted names in business news and this new lineup affords FOX Business viewers additional access to their no-nonsense take on the day’s financial events. We look forward to Judge Napolitano, David and Eric continuing to make significant contributions to both FOX Business and FOX News. In addition to daily branded segments, each of them will be showcased throughout future programming on both networks.”

Currently one of the leading judicial analysts on television, Judge Napolitano will continue his role on both FOX Business and FOX News, providing key legal insights surrounding the growing intersection between Washington and Wall Street. In addition to co-hosting The Five on FNC, Eric Bolling will also lend his unparalleled expertise on oil and energy stemming from more than 20 years on the trading floor to both networks as a commodities contributor. David Asman will maintain his role as co-anchor of After the Bell (4PM/ET) with Liz Claman on FBN, as well as expand upon his platform as a multinational economic affairs expert to provide commentary on the globalization of the business world. Stossel, hosted by John Stossel, will continue Thursdays at 10PM/ET.

This could be interpreted as the latest manifestation of FBN’s “course correction” away from politics and more towards Business News as Napolitano and Bolling are more well known for the ideologies these days than their business acumen (which in Bolling’s case is actually quite considerable). And Bolling has his big hit 4 on 1 The Five to fall back on. The surprise here would be Asman’s show getting axed as it had been on FBN’s air, under one name or another, since the network launched. But Asman still has After the Bell which is a big anchor for FBN’s business day coverage. It’s less clear what Napolitano does. He won’t be going away but he won’t have his own show anymore either. Funny. Just a year ago Napolitano was being touted by many, myself included, as a viable replacement for Glenn Beck. Now he doesn’t even have a show to call his own.

What shouldn’t be surprising here is Melissa Francis getting her own show. You have to figure that this particular carrot had to have been dangled in front of her in order to get her to join FBN from CNBC in the first place.

Neil Cavuto Interview…

AdWeek’s D.M. Levine, who actually isn’t at AdWeek anymore, interviews Neil Cavuto…

What do you think about your competitors’ business coverage?

They can talk the talk, but they can’t walk the walk. If you’re going to be Bloomberg or CNBC and sponsor a presidential debate and you’re not even going to stay up late to give the Iowa caucus results or commit yourself nonstop to South Carolina or cover a debt downgrade post the market hours, either with the United States last summer or much of Europe, and still say you’re all business all the time, you’re lying through your teeth. We may be young and in half the homes and the upstart, but we know what we are.

What is that exactly?

I have a cardinal rule with my staff: We don’t use jargon. We don’t use acronyms. We don’t assume the audience has this down pat. We don’t try to check with our banker and broker contacts [to see] whether an interview impressed them. I’d sooner make an inroad with my mother-in-law. The rap against business journalists is that we deliberately try to sound like the smartest kid in the class. I can tell you, I was not. FBN is like a business field of dreams. If you build it, they will come. I’m not smart enough to know when they will come. I’m waiting. But I’m impressed by the results we’ve seen.

FNC to Ring the NASDAQ Tomorrow to Celebrate 10 Years at #1…

From the wires…

FOX News, a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news, will visit the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City’s Times Square to celebrate its status as the #1 news channel in the U.S. for the 10th year.

In honor of the occasion, FOX News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren along with Lou Dobbs, Lori Rothman, Liz Claman and Melissa Francis from FOX Business Network will ring the Opening Bell.

Liz Claman Interview…

The Jane Dough’s Amy Tennery interviews FBN’s Liz Claman…

TJD: Who are you most excited to interview?

LC: I have never been bored talking to Eric Schmidt of Google. I love it because other CEOs are so jealous of him. He is so smart and has such interesting ideas.

TJD: What kind of behind-the-scenes stuff goes on at Davos that you think people would never expect?

LC: It’s hilarious to see everyone star-struck. Last year, the chef of Red Rooster, Marcus Samuelson, was there. CEOs of major global banks were stumbling over each other to get to him to say hello.

And everyone has the same complaint: Their lodging.

TJD: Really?

LC: “Oh my hotel room is so small; it’s so far! Oh what a pain; oh they didn’t plow the road up to my hotel.” We pile on top of each other. [For] our crew, I think it’s two bedrooms and there are six of us. We don’t even care. We go and we figure out a way and it’s hilarious.

Anatomy of a Fiasco…

Philip Taylor blogs about a big bruhaha involving Suze Orman, a new pre-paid debit card she’s hawking, some ill-advised Tweeting, and FBN’s Geri Willis…

I’ve heard through a source close to the matter that Gerri Willis has been repeatedly called and emailed with criticism from Suze Orman’s PR firm over the reports she’s done surrounding the issues with Orman’s new pre-paid credit card.

I’m no stranger to this approach as I was labeled the idiot and I’ve seen suspect comments on my original post. But all this denial without much backing makes me question, why not just go on a national platform and engage your critics?

If the card is really as great as Suze says it is, wouldn’t we all benefit from an explanation from her?

Sandra Smith Interview…

Part 3 of TVNewser’s Media Beat interview with FBN’s Sandra Smith…

Sandra Smith Interview…

Part 2 of TVNewser’s Media Beat interview with FBN’s Sandra Smith…

FNC’s 2012 Digital Strategy…

MediaBeat’s Meghan Kelly writes about FNC’s 2012 Digital strategy and interviews VP of Digital Jeff Misenti… (via J$)

With the new year come new resolutions, and Fox News has one of its own: It’s adopting a new digital strategy that takes the mobile world into special account.

“The starting point for all [these changes] is there are more devices, more connectivity,” Fox New and Business’ vice president of digital, Jeff Misenti, told VentureBeat.

Fox is introducing a slew of new ways for its audience to interact with news anchors, articles, video content, live streaming, and even the front page of Fox News’ website itself. The emphasis, however, is on the recently adopted term “TV Everywhere.” A number of media outlets are taking to TV Everywhere as a way to deliver content to a number of different devices and to do that as seamlessly as possible. But syncing your customers’ viewing experience across a variety of screens is a challenge.

Sandra Smith Interview…

FBN’s Sandra Smith gets the TVNewser MediaBeat treatment today…

Season’s Beatings…

Normally when one sends out a trash talking Christmas card there’s usually some kind of factoid to back it up. In this case it’s more along the lines of wishful thinking.

For all of CNBC’s complacency; the lack of pushing the envelope, relying on tape in primetime, and in 2011 blown budgets and possible cutbacks and talent departures (or non-renewals depending on your point of view), FBN has beat its chest hard but really hasn’t moved the needle in business day. This card doesn’t carry the same zing as FNC cards do precisely because FNC is #1 and nobody can come close to touching it. The same can’t be said for FBN. Maybe one day. But that day isn’t today.

FBN Morning Ratings Peak…

Talking Biz News got take a look at FBN’s morning numbers…

Fox Business Network gets its largest number of viewers in the key 25 to 54 age bracket before noon, according to Nielsen data provided to Talking Biz News from an independent third party.

Read the rest here…

Update: Blowback…courtesy of Benzinga’s Scott Rubin…

The two segments that run during this time are the second hour of Stuart Varney’s show “Varney & Co.” and “Fox Business” which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. What this data leaves out, however, is the success of Fox Business’ primetime lineup with shows such as “Lou Dobbs Tonight” and “the Stossel Show with John Stossel.” The reality is that while Stuart Varney’s show is drawing strong ratings for the network, they are not the highest.

In fact, according to Nielsen Media Research numbers for October, that distinction goes to John Stossel’s 10 p.m. program followed by Lou Dobbs Tonight. The second hour of Varney & Co. is in third place, as opposed to first as Talking Biz contended, and Neil Cavuto’s 6 p.m. show comes in fourth. Therefore, a more accurate story to tell would not be that FBN draws its best ratings “before noon,” but that, in fact, the post-market shows on the network are pulling in the largest number of viewers.

I’m going to take Benzinga’s side in this for one reason and one reason only; Talking Biz News didn’t differentiate between business day programming and primetime programming even though they never referenced any programming other than Business Day. If Talking Biz News had added a disclaimer that it was talking solely about Business Day programming that would have been a different story and Benzinga’s point would have been irrelevant. But since it didn’t, it isn’t.

Update 2: Talking Biz News has now updated its story to reflect it was talking only about Business Day. I had figured that was the case but had no way of proving that was the case.

Melissa Francis to FBN…

Benzinga’s Louis Bedigian scoops that Melissa Francis is jumping from CNBC to FBN. Another good pickup for FBN.

Note to Bedigian: Francis hasn’t anchored It’s the Economy on MSNBC in years and The Call got axed a few months ago. Where’d you get that way out of date info from?

Imus vs. FBN: Imus Backtracks?

Well this is turning into quite a soap opera. Imus is now walking back his comments from yesterday concerning the FBN PR department. (via J$)

Update: Oh, there’s another shoe that got dropped this morning…

So Imus has now been led to believe that CNBC is the one that leaked his numbers? Oooookay. I didn’t think Imus could get suckered like that, but apparently I was wrong. Or maybe he was ordered to say it was CNBC. I don’t know. I do know that leak had all the markings of an FBN hatchet job and CNBC isn’t clever enough to come up with a way of leaking those numbers to make them look like it came from FBN.

FBN vs. Imus: Imus Bites Back…

TVNewser’s Alex Weprin writes about Don Imus taking pot shots at FBN PR after they leaked out his bad ratings yesterday…

“Tomorrow will be 40 years I’ve been doing this,” Imus said. “I can ruin people’s — not that I want to–but I can make a day just not fun.”

Imus has always made controversial statements on his program, so inside Fox, his comments weren’t seen as a serious issue.

“This is just Imus being Imus – we don’t take it personally,” a Fox Business spokesperson tells TVNewser.

Oh yes they do and this is a very serious issue. It became serious the moment FBN PR torpedoed Imus. But they don’t want to get into a public back and forth with him thus the very un-Fox like tempered public statement. This will be handled internally…hopefully…for FBN’s sake.

Tweet of the Day…

FBN’s Charlie Gasparino

cnbc is looking for jon corzine; FBN found him a cpl weeks ago. Guess where? his apartment in nyc. its called reporting

Ouch…

FBN vs. Imus?

Today’s TVNewser piece on Don Imus’ FBN ratings is interesting. It’s negative of course since Imus’ ratings haven’t been so hot. But it has the characteristics of a network leak. Yes, I know…I’ve called out “leak” before and been wrong. But what makes this article special and sets off my leak alarm is the ratings period sampled…

Since May, (5/5/11 – 11/25/11) when Connell McShane took over for Charles McCord, the show has seen an -18% drop in A25-54 viewers. And despite crowing about an occasional win against “Squawk Box”, Imus has not logged a win in the 6-9am block this year, in either Total Viewers or the demo.

Why sample the ratings since when McCord left? The likelihood that TVN would go to someone and ask for FBN’s Imus ratings since the time McCord left seems rather unlikely bordering on the implausible. Ergo, it is more likely that this ratings data was leaked.

Where things get interesting is when we turn to speculating over who did the leak. The obvious candidates are CNBC and FBN. The idea that CNBC would be interested in torpedoing Imus with a ratings shot is I suppose plausible, though why would they want to go to the effort? But FBN? That’s a different story.

After what happened between Neil Cavuto and Imus where Imus yells at his viewers for not watching and then Cavuto comes on and basically tells him on the air that his show sucks and the ratings reflect it, a negative leak from FBN could be viewed as the coup de grace.

If it was indeed FBN that leaked it, I imagine it’s now open warfare time between the network and its morning host.

It’s tough luck for McShane though as he winds up getting caught in the crossfire since the ratings leak sampled the time he took over for McCord.

Cavuto vs. Imus?

Neil Cavuto was on Imus this morning and the subject of Imus’ rant the other day came up… (via J$)

Get Irena Briganti?

Jim Romenesko tweeted the following today…

Want to hear from TV writers, others about dealings with Fox News’ Irena Briganti. Anecdotes, email exchanges pls. THX jim@jimromenesko.com

Lots of emails re Fox News flack Irena Briganti coming in. To those asking: Prefer on the rec., but not-for-attribution stories welcome.

I have no idea what put a bur under Romenesko’s saddle regarding Briganti…but this has the potential of being really explosive. But I would expect FNC to not sit around waiting for what might come its way and put out a pre-emptive strike on Romenesko.

FBN Schedules 9pm Greece Special..

FBN will be airing a David Asman anchored special on Greece tonight at 9pm ET…(via J$)

FBN to Dump Imus Friday for Greece Coverage…

An emailer writes in that FBN will drop Imus tomorrow morning so that it can air a special on Greece with Ashley Webster…

Cable Business News Anonymice…

AdWeek’s D.M. Levine writes about FBN’s numbers for September…

It was an abysmal month for Fox News’ young sibling channel. Fox Business Network saw an average daily viewership of around 65,000 for October, according to Nielsen, which also happened to be the month of the network’s four-year anniversary. In its target 25-54 demo, though, Fox Business only drew an average of 10,000 viewers per day. This, compared to the network’s chief competitor, CNBC, which saw around 201,000 viewers on average and 59,000 in the 25-54 age group. A source familiar with the network says that four years in, they expected Fox Business to be performing “a lot better than 10,000 in the target demo.”

Adding to the network’s woes is the fact that Don Imus’ program, Imus in the Morning, which Fox Business debuted in 2009 as the network’s daily morning kickoff program, is performing miserably—with an average of just 5,000 daily viewers in the target demographic for the month and 90,000 total viewers. By comparison, Squawk Box, which airs on FBN’s chief competitor CNBC at the same time as Imus’ show, received 179,000 total viewers on average for the month and outdelivered Imus in the target demographic by more than 12 percent, with 65,000 viewers.

There is one relatively bright spot for Fox Business—its early prime-time 4 p.m.-8 p.m. slate, which includes shows like Cavuto and Lou Dobbs Tonight. The network pulled around 85,000 average daily viewers for the month, including 12,000 viewers in its target demographic, during those hours. But even that figure is still well behind the 212,000 total viewers CNBC received for that same time slot.

Sandra Smith Interview…

The Next Woman’s Simone Brummelhuis interviews FBN’s Sandra Smith…

As female business reporter, do you attract a similar/different audience than your older male counterparts?

Our audience is filled with smart, curious people who care about their money. I specifically target an audience that wants to put their money to work with my branded segment called “The Trade”. It is a segment about actionable ideas to make money in the stock and commodity markets.

Sometimes I hear women say they think investing their money responsibly is a man’s world. I like to show all viewers, male and female, the options that are out there to make their money make money.

Imus vs. O’Reilly?

The Cutline’s Dylan Stableford writes about Don Imus cancelling a Bill O’Reilly appearance on his FBN show…

Bill O’Reilly was supposed to be a guest on Don Imus’ radio show–simulcast weekdays on the Fox Business channel–on Tuesday morning to plug “Killing Lincoln,” O’Reilly’s new book about the 16th president’s assassination. But Imus canceled O’Reilly’s appearance the program. Why? The shock jock was apparently incensed that O’Reilly, the top-rated Fox News host, plugged an his appearance on Tuesday’s “Today” show during Monday night’s “O’Reilly Factor” without mentioning Imus.

“[O'Reilly's representatives] asked to be on to promote his dopey book,” Imus told listeners Tuesday, adding that he watched O’Reilly’s show Monday night looking for a mention. “He says, ‘I am going to be on the ‘Today’ show tomorrow morning.’ I said, ‘That’s nice.’ I am waiting for ‘and I am going to be on with my friend Imus.’ I didn’t hear that.”

FBN Course Correction?

Reuters’ Peter Lauria writes about an FBN memo which addresses something I’ve complained about before…though I’ve complained loudest about the political incursion on FNC’s Saturday “Business Block”.

Here’s a novel idea: Fox Business Network should focus on covering business news.

At least that’s what Kevin Magee, executive vice president of the News Corp-owned cable news network, is urging his staff to do.

Unhappy with Fox Business’ focus on politics, Magee fired off a memo to employees reminding them that the network was not created to be a light version of its sister Fox News Channel.

“I’ve been asked to remind you all again that they are separate channels and the more we make FBN look like FNC the more of a disservice we do to ourselves,” Magee said in the memo dated Oct. 5, carrying the subject line “Fox News and Fox Business.”

Obvious Unanswered Question: Was this memo aimed at just Dayside or all of FBN? How, if at all, does this impact Napolitano, Bolling, and Dobbs’ programs as well as Cavuto’s and Asman’s?

I do have to ding Lauria on this point…

Fox Business’ audience could also benefit from gaining access to Wall Street Journal journalists, who have been under an exclusive contract with CNBC that expires next year.

If Lauria had been watching FBN a lot he should have noticed that WSJ writers have already been popping up more and more on FBN despite that exclusive contract with CNBC.

Related: Talking Biz News has numbers…

Lori Rothman Profile…

Palm Beach Woman profiles FBN’s Lori Rothman…

”All through school I was passionate about history and storytelling,” Rothman said. “I loved to interview and write articles.” She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism and history from the University of Southern California and went on to anchor the news for television stations in Alaska, Colorado and New York.

”I just wanted to get my feet wet and get some on-air experience before committing to a long term career in TV,” Rothman explained. “Those initial years showed me that TV often demands long, tough hours, and it’s tough to have a personal life. So it wasn’t that I aspired to be on national news as much as that I wanted a stable and balanced life. If I’d achieved the latter in a local market, I would’ve been thrilled. But I did get an opportunity in New York City that I couldn’t turn down, and I’m incredibly fortunate that, with that, came the balance I wanted.”

Rothman had been at Bloomberg News for 10 years when a conversation with a colleague inspired her to speak with the people at FOX. ”It turned out to be the best career decision,” Rothman said. “Here at FBN, my range as a broadcaster is constantly challenged, and I’m given so many opportunities on various platforms and subjects. And with the news flow and volatile markets lately, it’s never dull!”

Neil Cavuto Profile…

The Orange County Register’s Peter Larsen profiles Neil Cavuto…

“We had tapped something here with my daily show, ‘Your World,’ and the four weekend business shows,” Cavuto says. “Those happened to be the top five shows on business in America, and we felt that if that hit a chord with people, maybe a channel that followed on that, in English, not wonky, (would succeed).

As with Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network took a little time to build its audience, facing the usual growing pains of gaining spots on the rosters of cable carriers and educating viewers that they were there to be watched.

“For all its limitations and limitations getting launched, we have become a force,” Cavuto says of FBN. “I think that when people are exposed to us and see us they like us.”

He’s now on the air for approximately 11 programs a week, two a day on weekdays and one on the weekend, though special programs often bring him back into the studio. As for what’s different between his two main programs, “Your World” on FNC and “Cavuto” on FBN?

“One is more fine-tuned the other is big picture,” Cavuto says. “You have the liberty at Fox Business News to be a little more business hardcore. You can go longer on interviews. I think with a general news audience (on Fox News Channel), an extended CEO interview can get a little taxing.”