Fall launch for Fox Business Channel

NEW YORK, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Rupert Murdoch said Thursday his News Corp. media conglomerate would launch Fox Business Channel in the United States this fall.

The new channel, developed by Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes, will be "business friendly," Murdoch told a New York media and technology conference. He characterized NBC Universal's CNBC financial cable network as "negative" toward business.

Murdoch would not disclose programming details because, he said, CNBC "would immediately copy" them. But he said his channel would not "leap on every scandal."

Ailes said the new channel would "extend the Fox News brand" to business journalism.

The network, based at News Corp.'s New York headquarters, has 30 million subscribers under contract through Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV and Charter Communications, Fox officials said.

Murdoch has said he would only launch the channel, talked about for the past two years, if he had enough distribution in place.

"I look forward to introducing new competition and a new voice to the business-news arena," Murdoch said.