Roger Ailes is a week away from launching the Fox Business Network and he’s kicking up the trash talk against incumbent CNBC. Ailes tells the Wall Street Journal he hired all the current broadcast stars on CNBC in the first place — Maria Bartiromo, Jim Cramer — and that if the channel wants to keep their lead, they better get their kicks in early.
For full disclosure, Fox’s News Corp is buying Journal parent Dow Jones & Co. One big question about Fox Business is how soon it can use Dow Jones’ financial news to feed its broadcasts, since Dow is locked into a contract with CNBC till 2012. The Journal even asked Ailes about this, but he demurred. From what we see, the interview itself is a remarkable example of future “synergies.”

Here are some of our favorite quotes from the Journal interview:

On CNBC: If they can’t kill us in the crib now, it’s only going to get worse for them day to day. … I believe we will beat them, and I believe the asset value of Fox Business Network will grow relatively rapidly.

On CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo: Look, I’m the one who put Maria Bartiromo on the air. She’s a fine talent. This new woman that they’re overusing because she’s on now 15 hours a day, Erin Burnett, is a good talent. But she’s gonna age. She’ll only last another year, the way they’re working her.

On his qualifications: I think what I bring to it is life experience. People say, “How can you? You didn’t go to Columbia Journalism School, how can you run a news organization?” I say, “I have two qualifications: One, I didn’t go to Columbia Journalism School, so there’s a chance I’ll be fair, and, two, I never want to go to a party in this town, so there’s nobody’s a- I have to kiss.”

(WSJ)

Keep an eye On:

• Murdoch gets his feet under the Wall Street Journal’s boardroom table. (FT)
• Google and I.B.M. are investing to build data centers that students can tap into over the Internet to program and research remotely, an idea called “cloud computing.” (NYT)
• MSNBC Interactive News has acquired Newsvine, a social media Web site based in Seattle. (Reuters)
• Infogrames, seeking to restore profitability at its 51 percent owned U.S. affiliate Atari, said five of the current Atari board directors would be removed. They hope to reposition Atari as a “reliable player in the U.S. video games market”. (Reuters)
• Video-rental company Movie Gallery aims to file for bankruptcy protection under a pre-negotiated deal with key creditors under which the company will convert its bonds into stock, according to the Wall Street Journal. (WSJ)
• Newsday goes on a scavenger hunt after its three gold Pulitzer medals for public service journalism turn up for auction on eBay. (NYT)
• Fox is considering a weekly, half-hour late-night show hosted by its lead sports personality, Joe Buck, and it just completed a pilot for the show. (Broadcasting & Cable)