Chris Ariens of TVNewser interviewed new Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo about her new shows on the network and about business journalism.
Here is an excerpt:
TVNewser: FBN still trails CNBC in the ratings most hours, what will be your measure of success?
Bartiromo: I feel like already I’ve had people on the show that have never been in the building. And so, one measure of success is ensuring that I have the leaders in business, informed individuals coming on the show and have an informed discussion. I’m not under any illusion that this is necessarily going to be easy to compete with a company that’s been in place — and that I helped to build — that’s doing great. CNBC does a great job. So I’m not going to focus on ratings right off the bat. I can’t. I think it would be silly for me to do that, because we’re building something. I feel like in Roger Ailes, I have a boss who wants me to win. I feel like he is recognizing these other things, he’s not necessarily just saying ‘well, you know, we have to have the ratings up,’ and so I think the ratings will follow at some point, but that’s not going to be my first measure of success.
TVNewser: Business TV ratings have taken a hit because of the way people get their business and financial news: through digital and social media. What will you do to make sure your show is appointment TV?
Bartiromo: You’re right. You can get this information and the numbers anywhere. I can get it on my iPhone right now… and I do. But you don’t watch the TV to get the numbers anymore. You go to a channel or a show, because you trust that person and you trust the information that you’re going to get. But this is something that has been a frustration of mine at CNBC. I would say to Mark all the time: I feel like we’re programming to an audience that’s left the party. All this yelling. Buy at $10 and sell at $10.05. All these quick shows and quick interviews. That’s for day traders and I don’t think day traders are watching the way they used to. I think people are going to watch because they want to feel they’ve gotten something that’s informative.
Read more here.
