Fox Business Network launch at the wrong time

Daniel Gross writes on Slate that the launch of the Fox Business Network may be about two years too late because of the recent stock market downturn.

Gross wrote, “In the middle of 2004, starting a business news channel would likely have been a brilliant contrarian play. As Jon Fine of BusinessWeek noted last November, ‘Murdoch & Co. first floated the notion of a 24/7 business channel two-plus years ago.’ CNNfn’s audiences and advertisers, few as they were, would have been looking for a new home. And the market environment was favorable. (The markets have, of course, gone on a tear since CNNfn was canceled.)

“But now? At a time when the bull market seems to be breaking down, when investment banks are beginning to cope with the aftermath of a credit orgy, at a time in which income inequality has surged to levels not seen since the 1920s, and when even rich people are abandoning the Republican Party—you have to wonder whether this is the most auspicious time to launch a new TV network that combines GOP talking points and simplistic market updates.

“So, does the debut of the Fox Business Channel signify a top? They’ll report. The market will decide.”

Read more here.