CNBC lags behind competitors

David Bauder of the Associated Press writes about how Bloomberg Television and Fox Business Network have remained on the air during major breaking business news recently while CNBC has run taped shows.

Bauder writes, “Bloomberg Television and Fox Business Network both extended live coverage on Friday night, when the Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services downgraded the United States’ debt rating for the first time. The scenario was similar the previous Sunday night, when President Barack Obama announced an agreement with legislative leaders to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.

“CNBC noted that it ran a Sunday special featuring Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s first public comments on the debt downgrade and was pre-empting programming for a two-hour special Monday on the volatile economic markets.

“Fox was quick to leap, however, running a full-page ad in Monday’s Wall Street Journal with onscreen pictures from July 31, contrasting its live debt ceiling coverage with the show CNBC was airing, ‘How I Made My Millions.’

“‘It shows that we are always looking out for the audience, always trying to find an inroad and, frankly, our competition isn’t working as hard as we are,’ said Kevin Magee, executive vice president at Fox Business Network.

“The incidents illustrate the dangers faced by a news network heavily geared to the business day when news of particular interest happens outside of business hours.”

Read more here.