Jeff Zucker interview…
The Hollywood Reporter’s Andrew Wallenstein interviews NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker…
THR: Rupert Murdoch could acquire the Wall Street Journal. If he integrates that with Fox Business Channel, what does that mean for CNBC?
Zucker: If this were two years ago, I would be far more concerned. CNBC has transformed itself into a strong and thriving operation under Mark Hoffman’s leadership. We feel very comfortable with where CNBC is at today. We don’t take any new competitor lightly. We’re not going to make the same mistake CNN made when Fox News Channel came along a decade ago. We’ll be strong and aggressive and continue to prove what makes CNBC by far the leading financial news broadcaster in the world. With all due respect to the success that News Corp. has had in many different places, just because Rupert Murdoch wants to launch something, it doesn’t mean it’s an automatic success. I think there is a degree of irony that the company that broke the story that Rupert Murdoch wanted to buy Dow Jones was CNBC.
“We’re not going to make the same mistake CNN made when Fox News Channel came along a decade ago.”
No they will wait until ratings tank and then start to copy every little thing that the competition does, just as CNN is doing now. Unfortunately, by the time they start to copy the competition, while calling themselves differentiated, it will be too late.
Comment by Mary Snow — July 31, 2007 @ 9:38 am