FBN Launches: Early reviews…
Eat The Press’ Rachel Sklar looks at the early hours of FBN…
But — even a micro-managed Roger Ailes coup d’état isn’t immune from bloopers. Question: What’s a bigger deal, something not working or something being wrong? Anchor Peter Barnes reported from Times Square on a sleek Bugati speedster, and hyped what would happen when he slid behind the wheel — and then nothing. Aw! Sometimes it happens (NB check out his scribbled and note-laden script). Not ideal, but these things happen. More of a concern is a blatant error made by Jenna Lee, who reported that McDonalds in London would be offering Free WiFi, “taking a page from the Starbucks playbook.” That is roundly incorrect: Starbucks does not provide free WiFi, as anyone who’s ever tried to pick up a signal in there knows.
Eh…it’s just the first day. If we judged every network by its first day, nobody would still be on the air…
Update: This appears to back up Jenna Lee’s statement on Starbucks…
Travel at blazing speeds on the Internet — all from the comfort of your favorite cozy chair. Starbucks now offers wireless broadband Internet service, provided by T-Mobile, throughout the UK.
Update 2: The operative word in Sklar’s point is “Free”. Starbucks’ Wi-Fi is not Free…
Jenna Lee also pronounced BEA Systems as Beaaaaaaaaaaaa
It’s supposed to be B.E.A Systems, How could she not know that?
Comment by Lurker — October 15, 2007 @ 10:57 am
I peeped in an out during the early morning hours.
I liked what I saw.
I hope the Bugati’s failure to launch isn’t a preview of things to come.
Good Luck,Fox Business.
Comment by Cella — October 15, 2007 @ 11:01 am
I’ve been watching since 5:45am or so.. I like it and appreciate a very low “politics” factor. I hope it stays that way, or I’ll turn ‘em off faster than FNC. Anyway, I don’t really like the 3 dudes sitting on a couch in close proximity.. thats a little too close for my comfort! Would there be a problem with casting a hottie for a little couch action?
Comment by Terance — October 15, 2007 @ 11:18 am
^
Hahahaha I was going to mention that! The three guys sit too close. I didn’t like it either.
Comment by Lurker — October 15, 2007 @ 11:34 am
According to their site (http://starbucks.co.uk/en-GB/_Our+Stores/HotSpot+at+Starbucks.htm), most of UK Starbucks locations do have wireless access.
Comment by ICN Reader — October 15, 2007 @ 12:06 pm
is the wifi *free* at the UK starbucks? Starbucks in America offer wifi by Tmobile but its not free.
Comment by chase — October 15, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Wow, really first with news there!
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-1287236,00.html?f=rss
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/88423516-7361-11dc-abf0-0000779fd2ac.html
Both had the story 9 days ago….
Comment by Sacha — October 15, 2007 @ 3:25 pm
When will todays FBN ratings be posted? I believe FBN will beat cnbc on its first day even though its in 1/3 the available households.
Comment by foxmeansbusiness — October 15, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
I read FBN isn’t paying Nielsen for ratings right now.. perhaps somewhere around 6-9 months. (the article said, unsure of link seeing that i’ve read about 300 in the last week)
Comment by Terance — October 15, 2007 @ 4:10 pm
Yeah I read the same thing Terance…and did anyone else take a look at FBN’s weekend schedule? It’s full of INFOMERCIALS!!
Comment by Anonymous — October 15, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
Nielsen will not rate them since they aren’t in a certain percentage of households. I forget what the exact percentage is, but 30 million isn’t enough for ratings data. The sample isn’t big enough and you’d see scratching in every demo, etc.
Comment by Nobody — October 15, 2007 @ 5:00 pm
#7, FOX was essentially the first to break the story. News Corp/FOX owns Sky News, which you’ve linked to as having had the story for 9 days.
Nevertheless, they didn’t air it today to be first. Not everything has to’ve happened 2 hours ago in order to be relevant today.
Comment by Haile Welde — October 15, 2007 @ 7:19 pm
That “wifi” thing seems really petty. It’s hardly a “blatant error” or “roundly incorrect”.
The phrase “taking a play from the playbook” doesn’t necessarily mean an exact copy down to the last detail. McDonalds is taking a tactic from Starbucks by offering WiFi. They’re just kicking it up a notch by providing it for free.
Comment by TBDave — October 15, 2007 @ 7:19 pm