Rupert Murdoch’s new network offers another prime media opportunity for PR people who fail to crack the established CNBC. More media outlets makes for merrier PR people and happier clients.Roger Ailes, the hard-nosed chairman of Fox News, promises to crush CNBC like a bug just as George Bush destroyed the hapless Michael Dukakis in the 1988 Presidential race. Ailes, who also counseled Ronald Reagan, teamed with Lee Atwater to smash the hapless former Massachusetts Governor.
Larger-than-life Ailes dismisses the New York City/Boston/D.C./Left Coast dilettantes who write off FBN, and its strategy to use “simple words” to connect with the vast majority of Americans. Or as Ailes told Broadcasting and Cable, his focus is on those living “between the Hudson River and the Sierra Nevada.”
It took Ailes and Fox News' brand of journalism four years to overtake Time-Warner’s CNN. CNBC’s parent General Electric has much deeper pockets than Time-Warner, but a major wild card is in play.
There is speculation that GE may spin off its broadcast NBC Universal operation following the Beijing Olympics. NBCU is majority owner in CNBC, while Microsoft owns less than 20 percent. (Both companies are 50/50 owners in msbc.com). A GE decision to disconnect NBCU would be sweet news for Ailes and FBN.
For the moment, the PR world applauds the debut of FBN. Let the games begin.