Fox Business Ad Attacks CNBC's Stock Crash Coverage

Fox Business Network takes a shot at CNBC in a new commercial that targets its rival's lacking coverage of breaking economic news this month.

CNBC stayed on pre-taped programming when Standard & Poor's downgraded the United States' rating for the first time, and when President Barack Obama announced the debt ceiling agreement. The network's two smaller rivals, Bloomberg Television and Fox Business Network, both extended live coverage for the stories.

Fox Business jumped on CNBC's blunder with a new commercial that compares its coverage of breaking news with nature scenes to portray CNBC on summer vacation. The 30-second spot asks, "During the historic debt downgrade, Fox Business Network was on air getting the facts first. CNBC? When economic turmoil struck, only one network was there. The competition? Gone fishin'"

In a twist, Fox Business bought commercial time on Time Warner Cable to run the ad on CNBC. The Daily News reports that the commercials were scheduled to air this week, but were gone by Monday afternoon.

Fox Business News also ran a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal last Monday, with screen stills contrasting its live debt ceiling coverage on July 31 with CNBC's broadcast of "How I Made My Millions."

WATCH:

Comments

[mancoff]

09:33 AM on 08/18/2011

They were probably checking all the perrtinent facts. Fox just hates when that happens. Besides Fox probably got a head start on getting the news on the air because they have the advanage of being able to hack the computers and bug the phones of the excutives of S&P along with anyone else they choose.

whoops sorry Fox, I forgot that your viewers probably haven't heard about your boss, your companies lack of ethics and all that hacking business, etc.

[AfterSomeThought]

11:14 AM on 08/18/2011

Amen, friend. There's a precious lack of analysis in the news these days as it is - Fox is basically saying "we splattered it out there without thought first!"

Much like bloggers who rush to be the initial poster in a talkback and shout "FIRST!" - with no other real statement to make.

While live coverage of certain events is admirable, the downgrade was going to take some time for the real effects to become apparent. Fox and other Murdoch properties (Wall Street Journal) just wanted to paint it as "the Obama downgrade" as fast as possible and act like he caused an economic 9/11:

http://nation.foxnews.com/debt-ceiling/2011/07/14/obama-downgrade-real-reason-us-could-lose-its-aaa-rating

Gee, what could possibly be their motivation for that? Hmmm...

[K August]

10:32 PM on 08/17/2011

Murdoch sinks a little lower.....
what's taking so long over in the UK.......we need some evidence so OUR FCC can start pulling some of his licenses here in the USA.

[euromarkusx]

08:13 PM on 08/17/2011

CNBC commercial:

"When Murdoch was caught hacking a dead girl's phone, where was FoxNews' coverage?"

"When Bill O'Reilly was sued for sex harrassment, where was FoxNews' coverage?"

[euromarkusx]

08:00 PM on 08/17/2011

CNBC could come back with the Murdoch hacking scandle coverage

[LoneRangerDude]

05:57 PM on 08/17/2011

Fox News motto should be changed to "We can dish it out ... but we just can't take it!"

[SCboy]

05:45 PM on 08/17/2011

I always love a pissing contest.

[andrc657]

05:12 PM on 08/17/2011

Is the FOX business show as extreme right wing as the FOX NEWS network?

[devilirius]

04:33 PM on 08/17/2011

Suggestion for CNBC counter-advertisement: "If you tune to Fox Business Channel, they make you watch Lou Dobbs. CNBC, we won't do that to you!"

[hoodwinkr]

08:55 PM on 08/17/2011

I think Imus too

[MrBrownstone]

01:44 PM on 08/17/2011

I just love the people on this site... Picking on fox for trashing another network, when this site has most of its storys in the media section about someone or something on fox news and MSNBC's night time line up spend the first half of their shows trashing Fox news...

[Marysdude]

05:44 PM on 08/17/2011

FAUX deserves every tid-bit of the trashing it gets...and more.

Rupert Murdoch set out early on to break America, and he has nearly succeeded. FOX News was part of his plan, and the WSJ may be the other.

[AmericanItalian]

01:28 PM on 08/17/2011

Why is this news? This is a business tactic done by most companies. I'm sure if FOX was not covering the crash and CNBC was, CNBC would have ran the same commercial only the other way around. This is not a very news worthy article except for those who hate FOX. For them anything that makes FOX look bad is good news. However, I think this commercial made FOX look better.

McDonalds bashes Burger King and vice versa. Pepsi attacks COKE and vice versa. Sarah Lee Bashes Kraft and vice versa, Dish Network attacks Cable and Impact Wrestling attacks WWE. OK the last one not so important. But you understand.

[troyrobertdavid]

12:26 PM on 08/17/2011

Where's Fox news when it comes to reporting facts?

[olderdem]

11:26 AM on 08/17/2011

Our country would have been better off if none of cable news networks had covered the S&P downgrade because they all got it wrong. It was a weekend of ”lets see how scary we can make it for Americans” now that our credit rating from the likes of S&P was downgraded. So what do we get as a result of them scaring the crap out of everyone? A market down 600 points on Monday. But all the scary stull like an increase in interest rates for everyone did not happen. Those cable news shows lied to us. Instead of an increase in interest rates, rates went down on Monday and on Tuesday we find that the Fed is going to keep short term rates low for another 18 months or longer.

[Reader2323]

09:28 AM on 08/17/2011

Think about it. When something big and unexpected happens that we all need to know about, is it to Fox News you turn first?

[alfo]

11:16 AM on 08/17/2011

Unless it's the crimes of News Corp,prime example of their through coverage of big unexpected liars.

[GEORGE W TUSH]

09:19 AM on 08/17/2011

Fox News is right, big gov't should stay out of our personal business. That's Rupert Murdoch's job.

[MahatmaCoat]

08:24 AM on 08/17/2011

Instead of keeping their head down, trying to do a good job, and letting the merits speak for themselves, they put out attack ads. Keeping it classy, Fox! Are you reporters, or engaged in a dirty political campaign?