$100 million not enough to launch Fox Business Channel

Joseph Lazzaro writes on BloggingStocks.com about the Fortune story on Thursday that said that the Fox Business Channel would be started with $100 million and says that’s not enough.

Lazzaro wrote, “One veteran media professional, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified by name, said he’s delighted that Murdoch will inject ‘news competition into the business/financial realm’ and that the increased competition will undoubtedly make CNBC, Bloomberg News, and other broadcast financial news services better operations.

“However, the media professional added that the ‘$100 million infusion represents just a slice of what it will cost to launch and operate a broadcast financial news operation.’ Murdoch is ‘looking at about $250 million to start it, if he wants to do it right, and I suspect he does,’ he said. ‘There’s talk of hiring about 250-300 people. That’s not a small operation and requires a significant outlay.'”

Read more here. Lazzaro points out that Murdoch could cut costs if he is able to purchase Dow Jones & Co., the owners of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch. But the Bancroft family that controls the company has given no indication that they’ll sell.