Fox Biz Network to expand online shows

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Ray Hennessey, the editorial director at the Fox Business Network, said Monday that the network plans to expand its online shows to “several hours.”

The network currently has a show called “FoxBusiness.com Live.”

Hennessey’s disclosure came during a session on online video at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers annual conference in Denver.

“Online allows for more interaction with your audience than any other medium,” said Hennessey, noting that the FoxBusiness.com anchors are chatting online with their audience during the show. “When we do something like this, it’s more about the audience.”

Fox Business is not the only business news media outlet looking to expand their online video presence. In March, CNNMoney.com unveiled eight new online business shows. They include a twice-a-week segment called “Help Desk,” that answers personal-finance questions, and “Conscious Capitalism,” a weekly show on corporate philanthropy.

“We have a very different audience,” said Chris Peacock, vice president and executive editor of CNNMoney.com. “It’s an at-work audience, and it demands a different type of story.”

Peacock noted that CNNMoney.com is producing 10 to 20 original online videos per day and has 12 video producers. The most popular video during the last six weeks was a test drive of Volt, the electric GM car. It has had 700,000 streams.

Finally, Mark Stepanovich, managing editor of the Reuters Insider financial video service that will launch in beta form in June, noted that its online video service thinks of shows as five-minute segments, not the one-hour shows seen on Fox Business Network and CNBC.

He also pointed out that its videos will go directly to Reuters clients who have its terminal.

“We’re not interested in advertising dollars,” said Stepanovich. “We can go to an OPEC meeting and stream the entire event without a commercial break.”