Fox Business Network gets a re-design

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FOX BusinessRBR-TVBR exclusive: On Monday, Fox Business Network will be undergoing a redesign.  It’s going to a single 16×9 feed (previously, they had both an SD feed and an HD feed). This means that the SD viewers will be seeing a letterboxed version of the signal and the HD viewer will see the graphics and video that utilizes the entire 16×9 HD screen size (as opposed to graphics and visuals that were previously “4×3 safe” for SD viewers). Another big difference will be that the “wing” will be removed from the screen. The content that was in the wing (the info panel on the right) will now move to the ticker – which is also changing. After the move, CNBC will be the only network left with a wing.


See the change, below:


FBN will now, for the first time ever, have a specific vehicle in place to utilize social media. The ticker will now include a dedicated space for any text information, meaning headlines, tweets, Facebook comments and more. Previously, if they wanted to incorporate Twitter, it would have to be in the lower third, meaning it could only stay on air for a short time, and then would have to disappear once the camera switches to a guest that needs to be identified (since this is the space where chyrons–graphics that occupy the lower area of the screen–appear).

Ray Lambiase, Senior VP of Graphics at FBN, tells RBR-TVBR: “By dedicating an area of our new data ticker exclusively to text headlines, we will have the opportunity to – at any time and as often and for as long as we like – display social media comments, without ever interrupting the flow of financial data that our business viewers expect to see.”

Given the key role that social media will play in the 2012 election, the redesign comes at a perfect time. As FBN has been committed to covering the election from a business perspective, when the network hosts its debate coverage, it can for the first time display a continuous social media feed of tweets featuring comments about that night’s event. So, be on the lookout for FBN’s first on-air social media incorporation to begin around 10/3.

Seems like FBN is making strides. Nielsen numbers show that on 9/13, Lou Dobbs beat CNBC’s Larry Kudlow in total viewers and creamed him in the demo for 7PM. And it was Dobbs’ highest rated telecast of 2012 for both HH and A25-54. FBN is in around 60 million homes while CNBC is in over 90 million, so that was a good competitive showing.

6 COMMENTS

  1. Hate your new screen ticker. I don’t get what I want, like I did with the old ticker.
    I don’t need weather weather in an area I don’t need to know about. New ticker
    takes up too much room, and gives less immediate info. For example, I can see that
    the Dow is down, but I must wait to see the Dow number. Likewise, in the metals, I see
    that a metal is down, but must wait for another screen to see the price. Just don’t like it.

  2. HATE the redesign!!!! HD format used to be useful for day traders like myself but now it’s virtually worthless. Please change it back or I will be forced to change channels.

  3. Have been A faithful viewed since the creation of Fox Business. I enjoyed your old ticker format/programs. However I hate the new one. I find it all but impossible to track my portfolio. PLEASE go Back to the old format. I may be forced to go to your competitor to get my information.

  4. Hate the new screen. Must have been designed by somebody in marketing who doesn’t care what the market is at, just whether it is up or down. Now to determine what the markets are doing, you have to watch both for the change in one shot, and the current level in the next. You used to get 5 key statistics, their price and what they were up or down. Now you just get 3 items.

    Also, it is far to big and busy. When I want to watch a news show after market hours, my eyes are busy with the large lettering streaming through, and I can’t concentrate on the show.

    Do they think everyone is blind and they need the lettering twice as big?

    I just turned it off because it was annoying, and it was my favorite channel.

    Mr. Cavuto if your listening, I demand better, as I am paying a premium to have your channel.

  5. Hate the new layout! It is almost impossible to get the quote of stocks that are commonly traded. I used to watch a lot but now have to go msnbc business for my stock information.

  6. I can’t stand it, I like to watch Cavuto and Stossel, but now it looks like a browser window extremely corrupt with malware.

    It’s disgusting….Please change it back!!

    Steve

Comments are closed.