Comcast agrees to carry new Fox business channel

The New York Times is reporting that the Comcast cable company has agreed to carry the Fox business cable network channel when it begins airing sometime in 2007, but no launch date has been announced yet.

Richard Siklos wrote, “Comcast’s roughly 12 million digital subscribers would get the channel as part of their service. Those subscribers, combined with the 15.5 million subscribers to DirecTV, the satellite service controlled by the News Corporation, give the channel a substantial platform of as many as 27.5 million subscribers.

“At the media company’s annual meeting last month, Mr. Murdoch said the new channel would ‘definitely’ begin in 2007, echoing previous upbeat statements he has made about it.

“Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News Channel and the company’s television station group, declined to comment.

“An executive close to Mr. Ailes said his position was that Mr. Murdoch alone would decide when the channel gets the go-ahead. But Mr. Ailes has executives working on the channel to be ready for the say-so from Mr. Murdoch once a big enough potential audience is secured.”

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