First Business
| First Business | |
|---|---|
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| Presented by |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 260/year |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Harvey Moshman (2008-2014) |
| Running time | 30 minutes, inc. advertising |
| Production company(s) |
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| Release | |
| Original network | first-run syndication |
| Picture format | 480i SDTV widescreen |
| Original release | 1989 – December 22, 2014 |
| External links | |
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First Business, fully First Business News, was a nationally syndicated financial news and analysis television program, produced by First Business Network LLC, a subsidiary of Weigel Broadcasting, in Chicago. Anchor Angela Miles, Reporters Chuck Coppola, Bill Moller, and Executive Producer Harvey Moshman bring viewers commentary from the floors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange, as well as from their studios in the West Loop. The program covers the financial and economic markets including equities, futures, options, commodities, foreign exchange and geo-political news.
First Business ended its run with the December 26, 2014 broadcast. The program, which typically aired before local and national morning news timeslots, had been marginalized as those shows began to start earlier (as early as 4:00 a.m.), with First Business often moved to lower-rated and lower-viewed graveyard slots. The program's cancellation ended 47 years of Weigel Broadcasting and their flagship station WCIU-TV (channel 26) carrying and originating business-focused programming from Chicago.
Syndication
As of the Fall 2011 season, the program was carried daily on more than 100 US broadcast stations and in outlets across 46 foreign countries. The stations included affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW, MyNetworkTV, as well as independent stations. Air times varied, though the timeslots for the show in the majority of markets was 4:00am through 7:00am leading into early morning national newscasts or local morning newscasts. The only requirement the show enforced was that the program must air before the NYSE opening bell at 9:30am ET. The show was syndicated by Weigel Broadcasting and sold by Edward. E. Finch & Company.
History
The First Business program was originally launched in 1989 by BizNet, the broadcast division of the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC.[1]
In 2003, Weigel Broadcasting took over the program and moving the show to Chicago. With the loss of affiliates for the show due to expanded local morning news, Weigel decided to shut down the program. First Business News last show was produced on December 22, 2014.[1]
Notable former on-air staff
- MSNBC Angela Miles CNN's Nicole Lapin and Stephanie Elam
References
- 1 2 Feder, Robert (17 November 2014). "Closing bell tolls for 'First Business News' at Weigel Broadcasting". RobertFeder.com. Retrieved 29 November 2014.