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The Fox Business Channel went live in 30 million homes on Monday and hopes to make business news more appealing to the average viewer.

"They went on the air, played it straight and people were giving information whenever I tuned in - that's about as successful as you can be on your first day," Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University told the AP.

News Corp's Rupert Murdoch said the Fox Business Network was off to a good start and jokingly said its rival CNBC was "half-dead." It's two and a half to three days old and looks just terrific." When pressed about his comment about CNBC and if it was half dead Murdoch said, "No it makes like 300 million bucks ... it's not half-dead."

One obstacle FBN will face is competing with CNBC, which is in three times as many homes. That is likely a temporary issue as Fox Business executives have plans to widen their audience over time. As for ditching the Fox Business Network if it does not gain traction with viewers Murdoch said, " I stick with things at least for a few years."

As for taking a different approach to business news," They said they wanted to entertain people and I think they're succeeding," said Porter Bibb, a managing partner at Mediatech Capital Partners, a financier of media businesses.