Fox Business Network is a flop -- for now.

The News Corp. (NYSE: NWS)-owned cable channel is averaging just 8,000 viewers during the day and 20,000 during prime time, well under the 284,000 viewers who watch CNBC during the day and 191,000 who watch the General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) network during prime time, according to The Washington Post.

Basically, Fox could attract as big of an audience yelling the news through a megaphone in the middle of New York City's Time Square. The poor performance is not a shock. CNBC has a huge advantage in terms of brand recognition and getting people to change their media habits is difficult even under the best of circumstances. Moreover, during periods of economic uncertainty people want to stick with tried and true sources of information rather than something new.

By the way, I am rooting for Fox to succeed. CNBC could use a kick in the pants. The network is so full of itself sometimes that it's painful to watch. Fox, though, has yet to knock CNBC off its high horse.

Super Tuesday had a super payoff for CNN.

The Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) cable channel attracted 3.6 million viewers, beating out Fox News Channel which had 3.5 million and MSNBC -- which I prefer -- which had 2.1 million viewers between 8 and 11 p.m., according to The Los Angeles Times. Before you NPR listeners raise your Starbucks cafe au laits in triumph, remember that one night does not make a trend. Fox still rules the ratings roost overall.

This does underscore a few trends. One is that Fox is no longer the only voice of conservative thought on cable TV with the likes of Lou Dobbs on CNN and Pat Buchanan on MSNBC. Also, the far right brand of conservatism espoused by Fox may be out of favor. The presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is hardly a favorite of the far right even though he's trying really hard to mend fences ahead of the general election.

News Corp., though, is not hurting. During the second-quarter, operating income from its cable channels rose 34% to $1.24 billion as higher revenue from Fox News Channel and the other networks more than off set the startup costs at Fox Business Network and the Big Ten Network.

When Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) first announced plans to start a cable channel to compete against CNBC, I was psyched. At least, I thought, there would be an alternative to the General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) channel's must yell TV format. Boy was I wrong.

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.)

When Fox Busines Network debuts on October 15, it will be a fly buzzing around the elephant that is CNBC. All the talk about the looming war, battle, or clash of the titans is hype.

As BusinessWeek points out, Fox Business Network will have one-third of CNBC's reach and will also lag behind Bloomberg TV. News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch has said his channel will be geared toward Main Street instead of CNBC's Wall Street focus. I don't know what that statement means. CNBC's mission is to try and convince individual investors they must act RIGHT NOW to avoid financial ruin or to gain immediate riches. That seems to speak directly to Main Street.

Murdoch, though, is a patient man. People thought he was nuts to take on Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE: TWX) CNN, and now Fox News rules the ratings. He keeps the New York Post going because he wants to stick it to the liberal media establishment A.K.A. The New York Times. Power motivates him almost as much as money. That's why the media tycoon doesn't care if Fox Business News isn't immediately profitable or even if it takes some time to get into the black. He's trying to prove a point.

The biggest challenge facing Fox Business News is the same one facing the General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) cable channel: attracting an audience. For most people who don't read stock market blogs, business news is pretty dry stuff. That's why CNBC's anchors always yell the news written in their teleprompters to make things seem more exciting.

The real test for Fox Business News won't be how it reports earnings, corporate scandals or mergers and acquisitions. It will be whether people tune in when the market is quiet.

The Achilles heal for all-news networks, like Time Warner Inc.'s (NWS:TWX) CNN, is that many people only want to watch them when there's big news such as the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the president's State of the Union speech or Hurricane Katrina. When it's a slow news day, viewers go elsewhere.

Part of the success of News Corp.'s (NYSE:NWS) Fox News is that people tune into "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Hannity and Colmes" when there's nothing going on. Jim Cramer also attracts viewers to his show on General Electric Co.'s (NYSE:GE) CNBC when the market is dull. (I used to work for TheStreet.com, which Cramer co-founded.).

I am not sure whether people are going to be tuning into Neil Cavuto in droves, but the question investors need to ask is whether there is enough business to support a second cable business news network. CNBC's struggles are well-known and other cable news channels have failed, but it still remains a decent money-maker.

CNBC's advertising sales rose 6 percent to $173.3 million in 2006, according to estimates by Kagan Research. That may sound impressive but they are still below the $371 million level in 2000. Cash flow rose 12 percent to $301.5 million, ahead of the $288 million in 2000.

There's plenty of competition for the business news consumer. Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE:DJ) recently redesigned the Wall Street Journal and is showing some healthy gains in advertising at its flagship newspaper and Barron's. Conde Naste's Portfolio, the much-hyped magazine, debuts later this year.

This may be besides the point to Rupert Murdoch. He wants Fox Business News to be to CNBC what the New York Post is to the New York Times. Profitability can wait for now.

The Fox network is about to go head to head with CNBC by launching its own business network. The new service is being built by Roger Ailes, CEO of Fox News, and Neil Cavuto, managing editor for Fox's current business news.

While the news was officially announced yesterday by Rupert Murdoch, the market has been watching its development for some time. Just last month, our Jonathan Berr blogged about Time Warner (NYSE:TWX)'s agreement to distribute the content to their cable subscribers.

The network has placed development in the hands of some pretty serious guys, but I wonder if they aren't missing a bet by not developing content more consistent with the Fox image. Why clone CNBC when they could offer:

The Simpson's Investment Hour: Focusing on energy stocks, medical advancements and remedial education, Homer shows the viewer how to make some 'D'OH!' The animated hour could provide a hilarious alternative to Larry Kudlow's usual contest to see who can talk the loudest.

Joe Millionaire's Hottie Tips: The gag is, the ladies don't know he's totally ignorant about stocks when they turn over their 401k's to his administration. They only know he's hot, and broadcasts from the most pimped-out hot tub/studio in all of Beverly Hills.

House Party: Stock experts take a sick stock and try to determine why it's on the decline. Will they find the key in the annual report? The administration? Federal regulations? Erratic currency? Stock shrinkage? Will they solve the mystery in time to keep it from being de-listed?

StockCops: Bad broker, bad stock, what you gonna do when they come for you? An hour of hard-hitting drama as Fox accompanies the men and women of the Security and Exchange Commission and the New York Attorney General as they chase rogue traders and backdated-options executives through the mean streets of New York's financial district.

Madden in the Madhouse: The veteran sportscaster abandons his bus for a booth in the NYSE, where he gives the viewer a play-by-play of the last hour of each market day. " You see, what he's got to do here," (insert telestrator clip of traders on the floor) "is take the offer right at him. Bam! That's some kind of bid."

America's Most Wanted Stocks: AMWS will call upon the combined wisdom (?) of the American Public to suss out the wayward properties that have disappeared from the investors' minds, determine who is to blame for their malaise, and reunite them with now eager purchasers.

Or they could just clone Jim Cramer.

It's nice to see two fiercely competitive media titans come to terms. Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) has agreed to carry the perpetually planned financial and business news channel for News Corp (NYSE: NWS).

News' Rupert Murdoch has wanted in this space for a long time because of the success seen at CNBC and Bloomberg TV, and expects to launch later this year. Of course, as Jonathan Berr noted earlier today on BloggingStocks, questions remain about whether there is enough of an audience to justify another business news channel.

Time Warner is reportedly paying $0.10 to $0.15 per subscriber for the right to carry this, which is a bargain, but gets the channel entree into the key New York market where Time Warner subscribers are concentrated, as the Financial Times article notes (subscription required). Also, related to this deal, this summer Time Warner will reportedly have to pay $0.75 per subscriber for News' Fox News.

News Corp lined up Comcast Cl'A' (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to carry the network back in November, and if this Time Warner agreement was really a pre-condition to a launch, then it looks like this long-anticipated channel will finally become reality.

Now we just have to see if Fox can reinvent the business news wheel.