Media World: Rupert Murdoch will get the last laugh on his many critics

In its brief existence, Fox Business Network has largely distinguished itself for being undistinguished, making some unbelievably stupid mistakes such as confusing Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) with Abu Dhabi. More recently, the anchors of the show "Fox Business Happy Hour", Cody Willard and Tracy Byrnes, appeared a little too happy during a segment on of all things drunk driving. Call it an occupational hazard of hosting a show at a bar. Missing in all of this merriment was one crucial thing: breaking news. (Note: I crossed paths with Willard and Byrnes at TheStreet.com though I never worked directly with either of them.)What separates the big fish from the thousands of minnows in today's media world is the ability to tell people stuff that they don't know. CNBC knows this very well which is why the channel's anchors repeat the phrase "first on CNBC" about every hour or so. What's been first on Fox Business Network? I'd like to know.

Though some of my colleagues in the mainstream media are laughing at Fox Business' screw-ups, they really shouldn't. The careless mistakes that the cable channel anchors and producers have made are something that can be corrected or lessened with a stronger management team. As Dow Jones gets engulfed by the Murdoch empire, so will many capable journalists who can fix what ails the network.

Moreover, Fox Business is a useful tool to publicists who may have gotten mad at CNBC and to a lesser extent Bloomberg TV (I worked for Bloomberg for seven years) for a perceived slight or two. I can easily imagine a scenario where an uptight flack decides to leak a big merger to Fox to teach its competitors "a lesson." By the way, although CNBC has been crowing about its ratings, it's useful to remember that viewership in January dropped double-digit percentage points in the key 25 to 54 demographic for news.

Mind you, Fox Business' ratings are dreadful. Basically, the network could attract almost as many viewers shouting the news through a bullhorn in the middle of New York's Time Square. NBC head Jeffrey Zucker recently told JPMorgan analyst Imran Khan that CNBC hasn't been hurt by Fox Business News at all.

That may be the case for now. But Murdoch started Fox Business to prove that he can stick it to CNBC just as he started Fox News to stick it CNN. He is prepared to lose millions and accept screw-ups on his way to his ultimate goal which is of course to rule the world.