"Fox Business" is OK, but hold the "Network"

Jeff Bercovici of Conde Nast Portfolio writes Friday that Fox Business Network anchors and reporters won’t be using the word “network” all that much on the air, for reasons he doesn’t fully understand.

Bercovici wrote, “Two sources who’ve been working with the start-up in recent days say they were specifically instructed to refer to it as ‘Fox Business,’ not ‘Fox Business Network’ or ‘FBN,’ both on-air and off. In a recent run-through, David Asman, anchor of the 7 p.m. show, even brought proceedings to a halt so that the word ‘Network’ could be removed from the teleprompter.

“(By the way, Asman’s show is called America’s Scoreboard. News stories of the day are discussed in business terms, with each being awarded a ‘buy,’ ‘sell’ or ‘hold’ rating. He follows Neil Cavuto, who in turn follows the 5 p.m. show, Happy Hour, which will air live from the Bull & Bear bar in Manhattan’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.)

“What gives? If there’s been a change in strategy, no one’s notified the PR department. A Fox Business spokeswoman declined to comment, but as of yesterday press releases were still including ‘Network’ in the name, and the ‘FBN’ abbreviation still appears on FoxBusiness.com.”

Read more here.