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 The stakes are high for Fox Business, a younger and smaller cable
channel to CNBC that has a chance to attract new viewers from the
millions likely to tune in for its first debate in the November 2016
presidential election.
"For Fox Business, this is an important rite of passage," Neil
Cavuto, the network's managing editor of business news, said in an
interview this week. "I don't want to screw it up."
Cavuto and Fox's Maria Bartiromo will moderate the prime-time debate
with eight top-polling candidates alongside Wall Street Journal
Editor-in-Chief Gerard Baker. Fox Business is owned by Rupert
Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, and the Wall Street Journal
is a unit of Murdoch's News Corp.
 Moderators for CNBC, the top-rated business network owned by Comcast
Corp, came under criticism from candidates who felt questions were
unfair, serving up opportunities to criticize each other rather than
discuss issues. A CNBC spokesman said presidential hopefuls "should
be able to answer substantive, challenging questions."
For the next debate, Cavuto said he aims to keep candidates talking
about economic issues such as Social Security, taxes and government
spending. While some critics say the network leans conservative,
Cavuto said there is no political agenda.
"We are a business network," he said. "We really don't focus on the
red or the blue. We are just green. Money in and money out."
Cavuto and Bartiromo declined to critique their rivals' performance.
But their network ran a commercial saying CNBC "never asked the real
questions" and promised it would offer a "real debate about our
economy and our future."
The contenders will have more time for responses at the two-hour
debate in Milwaukee - 90 seconds to answer questions and 60 seconds
to respond if their name comes up, longer than the traditional
60-second answers and 30-second responses.
"You want to let it breathe and make sure no one is rushed but at
the same time no one is showboating," Cavuto said.
Both moderators said they are doing their homework to be prepared
for challenges from the contenders.
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Bartiromo, global markets editor for Fox Business, said she believes
jobs, wages and tax reform are among voters' top concerns in the
November 2016 election. "It's amazing to me that we haven't had much
focus on the economy and jobs yet and here we are four debates
later."
Fox Business Network was founded in 2007, following CNBC's 1989
debut. Fox Business reached 82 million homes on average this year
compared with CNBC's 92.7 million, according to SNL Kagan data.
Earlier debates attracted record audiences, topped by the 24 million
who tuned in to Fox News Channel's debate in August. Viewership in
the millions would far surpass the typical audience for Fox
Business, which averaged 102,000 viewers on weekdays in October,
according to Nielsen data.
The debates will stream for free on foxbusiness.com. Several pay
television distributors will let their customers watch the debate on
TV even if they do not subscribe to a package that includes Fox
Business Network.
"The reason we do these (debates) is to help viewers get informed on
the candidates' positions and help the voter best distinguish the
differences," Bartiromo said. "That's missing a bit right now."
For more on the 2016 U.S. presidential race and to learn about the
undecided voters who determine elections, visit the Reuters website.
(http://www.reuters.com/election2016/the-undecided/)
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)
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