Financial News Network

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This article is about a 1980s financial news network. For the also defunct Time Warner cable news network, see CNNfn.
Financial News Network
SCORE
History
LaunchedNovember 30, 1981; 42 years ago (1981-11-30)
ClosedMay 21, 1991; 32 years ago (1991-05-21)
Replaced byCNBC
Bloomberg Television

The Financial News Network (FNN) was an American financial and business news

television network that was launched November 30, 1981. The purpose of the network was to broadcast programming nationwide, five days a week for seven hours a day on thirteen stations, in an effort to expand the availability of business news for public dissemination. FNN was founded by Glen H. Taylor, a former minister of the Christian Church from 1950 to 1956, and producer of films for the California Department of Education.[1] The channel was purchased by NBC in February 1991, and operations were integrated with rival cable financial news network, CNBC
, on May 21, 1991.

Early history

Founding

[W]e had no resources, we had no money. Most every interview was a phoner and we covered it with graphics or videotape, which actually got so stale that at one point the stock market floor videotape that we used, [...] was so old that we got a call from somebody at the New York Stock Exchange, and [...] he said, "You know that guy that's in the shot on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange? He's been dead for two years."

Former presenter Ron Insana in 2004, [2]

Financial News Network (FNN) was founded in 1981 by Glen Taylor, chairman of the newly created five-member Board of Directors.

WKID
Channel 51 serving South Florida. During this time, FNN began programming on Channel 18 in Los Angeles in competition with Inger and KWHY.

Later, in 1975 via

Fort Lauderdale
. (The 'specialty programming' did not encounter regulatory hurdles TV Guide suggested.) During the years, FNN also grew affiliates that generally not overlapping Inger's targeted markets. However, Inger eventually "affiliated" with FNN, via an arrangement that took some programming and data feed from FNN, while retaining local coverage and interviews hosted on his station(s). The Chicago and Los Angeles stations evolved independently.

KWHY was the first television station on the West Coast to offer daily market news accompanied by a digital

Fox Business Channel. (Inger continued as a guest on CNBC for years; and provides a daily market analysis
report online, continuing active as of 2024; via daily market reflections @stockseer on ‘X’ ((formerly Twitter.)

With the earlier launch of

direct response television spots which more often than not, ran on FNN, the network he had helped to found. Harvey "Scott" Ellsworth, who was the creator and on-air host of the popular radio program Scott's Place, which aired on Los Angeles radio station KFI from 1967 until 1974, was one of FNN's initial anchors.[5]

Private financing

FNN received its early private financing from Biotech Capital Corporation, which later changed its name to Infotechnology, Inc.[6] Biotech Capital was also one of the few publicly held "Business Development Companies" - governed by the Business Company Development Act of 1980.[7]

In 1981, shortly before its initial public offering, led by the Paulson Investment Company, Taylor, then the Chairman, resigned due to previous legal difficulties. Jeremy Wiesen, a professor of business accounting and entrepreneurship at the Stern School of Business, New York University, and formerly with the Securities and Exchange Commission, became Chairman. The network's principal audience were small investors.

FNN's principal studio was in Santa Monica, California, but it then established operations in New York, on the ground floor of

Merrill Lynch's headquarters in Manhattan, where passersby could view its broadcast operations. Merrill Lynch was one of the initial private investors in FNN. In 1984, the company moved its editorial headquarters in New York, and Nightly Business Report executive producer Mark J. Estren was hired to oversee the network's shift in direction to the cable market.[8]

Over-the-air affiliates

At first, the channel aired only during daytime hours on a mix of

broadcast stations and cable television
providers. Over-the-air affiliates included:

SCORE

In 1985, FNN severed ties with its broadcast stations and established a 24-hour

SCORE
, a mini-network that aired sports events and news. Also airing in the overnight hours was Venture, a series of long-form speeches by business leaders, and TelShop, a shop-at-home service.

In the late 1980s, Infotechnology Inc., the New York-based information technology and venture capital company[10] (chaired by Earl Brian) which also owned United Press International, increased its position to 47 percent, and remained one of FNN's largest shareholders until Earl Brian, the CEO of UPI and FNN, was later convicted on fraud charges specific to UPI and FNN. At its height, FNN was available on 3,500 cable systems, reaching a potential audience of 35 million homes across the country. FNN moved into newly built modern TV studios and production facilities in the Wang building in Los Angeles and in New York's Rockefeller Center.

Later history

Financial scandals and accounting disputes

In 1990—only months after beginning its biggest advertising campaign ever—FNN fell prey to two of the main topics of its broadcasts, a financial scandal and an

Coopers & Lybrand
, and reported a $72.5 million loss for fiscal 1990. Needing a major cash infusion to stay in business, FNN put itself up for sale in November.

Proposed merger with CNBC

In February 1991, FNN reached a

Chapter 11 bankruptcy
, triggering a lively bidding war for the network.

Group W and Dow Jones raised their offer to $115 million, only to be turned down on a technicality by Bankruptcy Court Judge Francis Conrad; Dow Jones and Group W refused to keep the bidding open until May 31, 1991. NBC then raised its offer to $115 million, which was accepted by Conrad. That decision, however, was overturned on appeal.

Group W/Dow Jones and CNBC both significantly raised their bids. Group W/Dow Jones offered $167 million, while CNBC offered $154 million. However, the CNBC bid included more cash, and the Dow Jones/Group W bid included payments that were tied to revenue targets over three years. Conrad awarded FNN to CNBC, feeling its deal was more realistic.

Closure

FNN ceased operations at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time on May 21, 1991. CNBC immediately took over FNN's satellite transponder space, more than doubling its audience at one stroke, and branded its business day programming as "CNBC/FNN Daytime" until 1992. CNBC also effectively adopted the on-air "look" and news style of FNN as well as incorporated features of FNN's ticker into

its own on-screen stock ticker. While most of FNN's employees were laid off as a consequence of the merger (and eventually hired by Bloomberg L.P. to launch Bloomberg Television three years later on FNN's channel space), a select number of FNN anchors and reporters (including Bill Griffeth, Ron Insana, Allan Chernoff and Joe Kernen) were retained by CNBC. (Sue Herera, who joined FNN at age 21 and very soon became an anchor, moved to NBC and the brand-new CNBC prior to the demise of FNN; Griffeth and Herera were later reunited at CNBC and co-anchored Power Lunch until 2011, and subsequently anchored Nightly Business Report from 2018 until its closure in 2019.[11]) (Note: original pioneer Gene Inger did not become involved with FNN beyond affiliation on his stations; and did become an 'original Market Maven' frequent guest on CNBC. Inger declined staying with CNBC, having semi-retired to Florida; and remained a guest -usually with Mark Haines or Bill Griffeth- including the first remote fiber uplink to 30 Roc commentaries from Fort Lauderdale to CNBC. As of 2022 Inger continues to provide online daily market analysis
.)

See also

  • CNBC – successor in interest to the Financial News Network
  • Bloomberg Television – took over the channel space of Financial News Network and hiring most of former FNN workforce
  • LiveWire Professional – MS-DOS software for conversion of Financial News Network stock market ticker to computer readable format

References

  1. ^ a b "BUSINESS PEOPLE; BROADCASTER STARTS UP FINANCIAL TV NETWORK". The New York Times. 1981-11-30. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  2. ^ Nelson, Steve (August 4, 2004). "Ron Insana 2004 Oral and Video History". www.cablecenter.org. Englewood Cliffs, New York. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  3. ^ "BUSINESS PEOPLE; Chairman Steps Down At Financial Network". The New York Times. 1982-07-13. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  4. ^ October, 1975 "TV Guide" article & 1976 FCC WBTB-TV Blonder-Tongue Broadcasting "Specialty Programming" Filings
  5. ^ FNN Staff citations and History
  6. NY Times
    . September 19, 1987.
  7. doi:10.1016/0883-9026(92)90026-N
    .
  8. ^ "Cablecastings" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 15, 1984. p. 10. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  9. ^ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 1, 1985. p. 121. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  10. ^ Vesey, David (1988-03-30). "UPI Announces Business Plan - 1988". Downholders aka: downhold.org. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
  11. ^ "VETERAN CNBC JOURNALIST BILL GRIFFETH NAMED CO-ANCHOR OF "NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT"". CNBC. 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
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