Ailes takes on CNBC

Rebecca Dana of The Wall Street Journal has a Q&A Monday with Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, who is one week away from launching Fox Business Network to compete with CNBC, which he once ran.

Here is an excerpt:

WSJ: The Fox Business Network launches on Oct. 15 after two years of speculation and, to use your word, “disinformation.” I want to know what will viewers see.

Mr. Ailes: So do I. We’re working on it… . We think economic news is probably broader than what CNBC has been presenting. We intend to cover the markets and cover Wall Street as effectively as they do, maybe more, and add additional value. Beyond that, there’s no sense in me talking about it because this is a launch, and it’s a competitive launch….I will call a lot of audibles at the line once the play starts. I will not stand around the sidelines with a gamebook and a set of plays that I’ll stick to. I’ll change many things in the first year, I’m sure.

WSJ: What specific things has CNBC done in anticipation of Fox Business?

Mr. Ailes: The first thing they did was to say, “Well, Ailes seems to be patriotic, so we’ll name it ‘America’s Business Network’ and take that away from Ailes.”… They’ve embraced capitalism suddenly… . They have a tremendous advantage. They’re in 90 million homes. They have a 17-year head start. I put them on track 12 years ago….And we’ve announced when we’re going to come with our programming in our 30 million little pathetic homes. If they can’t kill us in the crib now, it’s only going to get worse for them day to day.

Read more here.