Fox Business Network announcers have long provided the latest business headlines. Now some may be preparing to discuss it, too.
Fox Business is gearing up to launch a new talk show aimed at emulating some of the biggest hits in recent years on its sister channel, Fox News, with “round table” shows quickly becoming a staple of its schedule. Shows can develop characters who find themselves driving their own hours within a few years, as was the case with Greg Gutfeld, who helped launch “The Five” in the late afternoon and now runs a late-night show at 11 p.m.
“We’ve had a lot of success on the Fox News side with shows like ‘Outnumbered’ and ‘The Five,'” Lauren Peterson, president of Fox Business Network, said in an interview. Business. , but with the addition of a heavy dose of business news.”
Peterson says the project is in its “early stages,” but she hopes to launch on schedule if not this quarter, then by the first quarter of 2023. The show could attract panelists from among the network’s existing roster or introduce new characters, she says . It remains to be seen if the software will debut during daylight hours, when Fox Business will focus more on the stock market, or after indexes close for the day. He adds that its release could spur programming adjustments across the timeline.
Bringing the format to Fox Business marks the latest change in the network under Peterson’s auspices. She took up her position at Fox Business in the fall of 2019, after a stint managing not only Fox News morning programming, but talent development as well. She continues to oversee talent alongside her duties at Fox Business.
Peterson’s moves since taking over the outlet have fueled ratings, but, like many other television outlets, Fox Business faces headwinds as consumers migrate from traditional television to other forms of video and information.
Both Fox Business and its main competitor, CNBC, are expected to see a decline in subscribers and ad revenue between this year and next, according to forecasts by Kagan, the market research unit of S&P Global Intelligence. The company expects the number of Fox Business subscribers to fall 7.7% in 2023, to 61.1 million, compared to 62.2 million at the end of this year. CNBC’s subscriber base is expected to fall 6% to 68.5 million, according to Kagan, from 72.9 million.
Advertising sales are also likely to be affected. Kagan estimates that Fox Business will see ad revenue decline 4.6% in 2023, to $38.8 million, compared to about $40.7 million by the end of 2022. A Fox Business spokeswoman has indicated that the network is on track to surpass the 2022 estimate. CNBC’s ad revenue will decline 4.7% in 2023 according to Kagan, to approximately $197.9 million, compared to $207.6 million in 2022.
Peterson believes that Fox Business can expand its audience by monitoring more than just the stock market. She says the business news audience won’t be outperformed by the audience looking for entertainment or broader news, but “if you want to compete, you can keep cutting slices smaller and smaller, but the idea when it comes to building a bigger pizza pie.” That means booking guests like Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase or Brian Moynihan of Bank of America but also focus on issues such as college debt management or a 401K and how “kitchen table” issues can affect Washington policy.
Fox Business used to tackle some of that task with prime-time opinion programming, but Peterson has gone too far, focusing instead on prime-time documentaries that focus on American entrepreneurs and real estate and draw on figures like Mike Rowe and Stuart Varney. “We’ve seen from research that once the market is closed, it’s hard to stick to business viewers,” Peterson says. They don’t want to cover the market in the evening. Fox News owns the opinion space at night, so why do we compete with it? “
The moves have won new advertisers on Fox Business, with Stellantis Dodge Ram sponsoring primetime series “American Built” while Boll & Branch supports real estate chain “Mansion Global.” Fox Business has seen a growth in its audience during Peterson’s tenure, particularly in the hours presented by Larry Kudlow and Maria Bartiromo.
Peterson is one of a long line of news executives who have been given broader assignments after facing the fierce competition of the morning news. She oversaw the company’s “Fox & Friends” franchise for many years before taking the reins at Fox Business. Several top managers of television news business got their start in AM, including former CNN President Jeff Zucker, current CNN President Chris Licht; NBC News President Noah Oppenheim. and former Disney CEO Ben Sherwood.
Her acumen has long been credited with local news. She jumped from producing a newscast in Albany to working at CBS and NBC affiliates in New York (where she did production stints for longtime broadcasters Sue Simmons and Chuck Scarborough), and learned how local stories can be meaningful to area viewers. “Our viewers aren’t just on the coast. They’re not just in New York and Los Angeles, they’re everywhere in between,” Peterson says. “If we don’t meet them in that place where they live, I guess we’re not doing our job.”
