Maria Bartiromo: Will The ‘Money Honey’ Improve Fox’s Ratings?

Maria Bartiromo moved to the the Fox Business Network back in January this year. The Inquisitr reported on January 22 about her move there from CNBC:

Maria Bartiromo, the well-known interviewer who was at CNBC for 20 years, announced that she has taken a job at the Fox Business Network. Even though it was not an unexpected move in Bartiromo’s career, it could only be announced officially on Wednesday due to “contractual concerns.”

Maria covered high-profile Wall Street events, and was with CNBC‘s business channel for 20 years. It was during her time at CNBC that she received the nickname “Money Honey.” She is now finding her feet on her new show, Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo which will air from 9-11 am ET.

Fox Business still trails CNBC when it comes to ratings, even though it it has been added to to more homes and is reaching a bigger audience than before.

Fox hope that Bartiromo’s move to their network will increase their ratings further.

Bartiromo said in an interview about her move to Fox: “I was at the top of my game at CNBC, but they made me a great offer. They were terrific at CNBC, but I am happiest when I am helping to build a brand.”

Fox hope that the new Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo will become the network’s top ranked show. Brad Adgate, senior vice-president and research director for Horizon Media said: “Only a handful of business news reporters have as high a profile.”

Kevin Magee, Fox Business‘ executive vice president also has high hopes for Maria Bartiromo:

“She’s got one of the best Rolodexs around, and she’ll get great people. But you can get market data anywhere, on your wristwatch. You need someone with her kind of perspective to explain it,” he said.

For her part, Bartiromo says she intends to change the established formula for her type of program by moving the focus away from CEOs and more towards strategic planners and money managers.