NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- "The Journal Editorial Report," a current-events television program produced by Dow Jones & Co.'s (DJ) Wall Street Journal, has found a new home at the Fox News Channel.
The TV show, which was launched in September 2004 on the Public Broadcasting Service and features members of the Journal's editorial board, will air its final episode on PBS on Dec. 2. It will begin airing on News Corp.'s (NWSA, NWS) Fox, a 24-hour general news channel, beginning in January.
Dow Jones informed PBS in early November that it had decided not to produce a third season for the network.
"The Journal decided not to pursue a third season on PBS because the carriage on the network, especially the refusal of many of the top PBS TV stations to carry the program, didn't justify the effort," a Dow Jones spokesman said in a prepared statement.
That decision preceded the release in mid-November of a report from the inspector general of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that said the former head of the CPB, Kenneth Tomlinson, violated federal law and internal ethical guidelines by improperly interfering with programming to include more shows featuring conservatives. Investigators in the inspector general's office singled out Tomlinson's activities that led to the creation of the Journal program.
Dow Jones, which also publishes this newswire, had no idea what would be in the report when it made its decision not to pursue a third season, the spokesman said.
"Fox approached us, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to work with a network that offers the national exposure this program deserves," he said in the statement.
PBS spokeswoman Stephanie Aaronson said in the fall about 290 of a total of 348 PBS stations were carrying the show. "It was their decision to do only the two seasons," she said. "We had really liked working with them. They're a very respected news source."
In addition to Dow Jones Newswires, Dow Jones publishes The Wall Street Journal and its international and online editions, Barron's and the Far Eastern Economic Review, Dow Jones Indexes, MarketWatch, and the Ottaway group of community newspapers. Dow Jones is co-owner with Reuters Group of Factiva and with Hearst of SmartMoney. Dow Jones also provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.
-By Janet Whitman, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5248; janet.whitman@dowjones.com
