Fox Business Network aims for mass appeal

By Kenneth Li

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Viewers have yet to see a single show, but the power of Rupert Murdoch's name has convinced some that his Fox Business Network has a shot at succeeding, even if it won't dislodge U.S. business cable news leader CNBC just yet.

News Corp's Fox Business Network (FBN) goes live to 30 million American homes on October 15 at 5 a.m. EDT, with a mission to take Wall Street to Main Street and forge a new audience for business news.

"When someone asks 'Who are you targeting?' I say, 'Everyone,"' Neil Cavuto, Fox News managing director of business news, said in an interview. "I don't know why or where it's written that business news has been relegated to ... old white men with money."

FBN's creation defies some well-established industry logic. Business news lacks mass appeal, the logic goes, as evident by Time Warner Inc.'s decision to shutter the CNNfn channel in 2004. The U.S. economy may be headed to recession. And the market already has a well established incumbent in

CNBC.

"Historically, financial channels on cable have done well in boom markets and crashes, and terribly in bear markets," independent network news analyst Andrew Tyndall said.

That hasn't daunted advertisers from putting their money into the ring, even though ad buyers courted for the launch say they have seen little more than PowerPoint presentations trumpeting the past successes of sibling channel Fox News.

FBN has signed up more business than the first nine months after Fox News' 1996 launch, including Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and discount brokers Scottrade, a Fox News spokeswoman said. Sprint Nextel, Fidelity and IBM have signed on for Web advertising deals, she said.