• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 12, 2007

Although News Corp. has recently been aggressive in launching new cable channels and even a broadcast network, CEO Rupert Murdoch said his company may have reached capacity--with the notable exception of the Fox Business Channel coming this fall.

"We have about as many channels as we need," he said at a media event last week.

Those comments were somewhat striking for an executive at a company that prides itself on debuting new channels in genres where it may be a second-comer, but still finds a way to establish a distinct reputation and profitability.

Save FBC, Murdoch said any new channels would be niche. As an example, he cited the Big Ten Channel that launches in August, which will focus on the leading college-sports conference. News Corp. is only a partner in the venture.

As for the much-talked-about FBC, Murdoch said studios have been built and details are coming soon. He declined to discuss programming particulars to prevent competitor CNBC from having time to trump it.

In an interesting twist--given Fox News' high-energy, often sensational bent--Murdoch indicated that FBC would outfox CNBC with a more sober approach. He called it "more business friendly," and not overly focused on the scandals wreaking havoc in corporate America that CNBC covers.

"There's just an atmosphere that's a little bit negative there," he said of the NBC Universal opposition.

On the MyNetworkTV front--the fledgling broadcast channel launched in September with 13-week-long telenovela strips--Murdoch conceded the money-losing operation has failed, but said it was a mistake that News Corp. (whose stock has soared recently) could afford.

"It hasn't worked," he said. "We'll try something else--it's as simple as that."

For News Corp., MyNetworkTV's viability is intertwined with the fortunes of its 10 owned stations that carry it. The network is now ripping up its programming book, moving away from telenovelas into movies and the booming martial arts-Ultimate Fighting Championship-style genre.