Meg James of The Los Angeles Times writes Thursday that CNBC will face formidable competition from the upcoming Fox Business Network, which will launch Oct. 15.
She wrote, “Wealthy viewers have allowed CNBC to charge advertising rates that are, in some cases, more than double its cable news channel counterparts, including CNN and Fox News Channel, according to people with knowledge of its rates.
Murdoch’s strategy is for the Fox Business Network to force down CNBC’s ad rates. CNBC also might find itself spending more money to compete.
CNBC has “huge profit margins and they don’t spend a lot of money on programming,” said Derek Baine, cable television analyst with SNL Kagan. “But now they are going to have to pay a lot more for talent and programming.”
NBC executives have felt that pinch before. In the early 1990s, when Murdoch entered the bidding for sports programming, the fees to televise National Football League and Major League Baseball games skyrocketed.
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