• B-To-B , Tuesday, October 9, 2007 10:31 AM

Media buyers are taking a mixed approach to the launch of the new Fox Business Network, with some ready to jump right in and others taking a more cautious approach. Among the former is Shari Cohen, co-president of national broadcast at media buyer MindShare North America. "We have been trying to be preemptive in figuring out the best way to get in on the ground floor," says Cohen, with the agency having "active conversations" about how client Ameriprise Financial can use it. She also expects FBN to price aggressively from the outset: "I don't think they're going to give the store away, but you have to compel people to buy something without a proven track record," she adds.

Guy Rancourt, VP-associate media director at Hill Holliday, with clients like John Hancock and Liberty Mutual, takes a longer view. "I don't think our clients will immediately jump on it," he says. "But if it gets traction and proves itself as a legitimate player, we would consider [ad buys]."

The net is set to hit the cable box on Oct. 15 with an initial base of 31 million homes and carriage on Charter Communications, Comcast, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable. Rival CNBC, which started in 1989, reaches 95 million homes in North America--not including places like trading floors, offices and hotel rooms. John McCann, vice president-ad sales at Fox Business, says the new net will be different from CNBC and Bloomberg Television. "We're not just talking to hedge fund managers in Greenwich," he says. "There are affluent people all over this country, and a small-business owner in Seattle has a different set of concerns and desires" than Wall Street executives. He adds that he expects "all types of ad categories" to buy in .

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