Roger Yu of USA Today looks at Fox Business Network in the wake of its changed lineup by CEO Roger Ailes in June 2015 and the fact that it is hosting a second Republication presidential debate on Thursday, both of which have resulted in higher ratings.
Yu writes, “Cavuto says a pivotal moment in the surge was a lineup shakeup in early 2015 that reoriented its push toward expanded market coverage. It removed radio legend Don Imus, hired at the founding to woo viewers, and slotted some of its better-known TV business reporters during the day, including Bartiromo, Cavuto, Stuart Varney and Trish Regan. (Regan and Bartiromo are contributors of USA TODAY.)
“‘I thought we needed our best hands on deck,’ Cavuto says. ‘If we beefed up with our major players, we felt that it’d bring home the point to viewers that, during the day, we’re there not only in the markets but with rapid-fire information.’
“The strategy is working so far, says Chris Roush, a business journalism professor at the University of North Carolina. ‘The content of FBN has gotten more business-y and that has helped,’ he says.
“Its association with Fox News Channel, the news network that’s also owned by 21st Century Fox, brings viewers but also attendant criticism that FBN covers economics with a conservative bent. ‘We’re pro-capitalists. We have no problem with capitalism itself,’ Cavuto says, arguing the network is neither conservative nor liberal.”
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