Next challenge for Fox Business: Reaching younger viewers

R. Thomas Umsted of Multichannel News interviewed Fox Business Network President Brian Jones about the network and about its growth plans.

Here is an excerpt:

MCN: What is it about this current environment that has allowed Fox Business to build its year-to-year ratings growth?
BJ: I think people found the network. We launched it [in 2007] right at the start of the financial crisis. Back during the internet boom, you couldn’t talk to anybody that wasn’t involved in the stock market, but that all went away. … At the same time, the whole media landscape was either changing or fragmenting. So then what happens is that people need actionable information to protect themselves and protect their families. Then, because of those two [Republican primary] debates [telecast by FBN], viewers found in us a network that they liked, and they saw that we have the deepest bench in economic business that’s ever been put together — Maria Bartiromo, Stuart Varney, Neil Cavuto and Lou Dobbs. The lineup is replete with experience in context and analysis so that people can make actionable decisions.

MCN: Having said that, what challenges does Fox Business faces as it continues growing?
BJ: I think we’ll be able to solidify our business day because that’s where we do the best journalism and the best coverage of these important issues. Our next challenge, and it’s always been a challenge, is reaching younger viewers. I’ve got kids in their 20s, and they don’t watch business news. They don’t yet understand the importance of this. So it’s getting this information in the younger people’s hands so that they understand when they start getting married and buy houses and buy cars and start planning for their futures that there’s a home for them to go to get information to make those decisions.

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