FBN Adds Another Business Personality: Former CNNer Gerri Willis
Fox Business Network announced the hiring of former CNN anchor and correspondent Gerri Willis today, another business personality added to the growing stable of well-known cable news defectors to join the still-young business network.
Willis left CNN last month.
The high-profile hirings began with Don Imus (formerly of MSNBC) and John Stossel (ABC), but the pair did not fit perfectly with the business news theme of the channel. But with the recent hiring of CNBC’s Charlie Gasparino, well-known and well-respected business reporter with a string of “gets,” FBN was back on track with the business focus.
Willis continues that theme. She served as personal finance editor at CNN and will anchor a weekend program on FBN as well as appear on other programs to provide commentary and analysis.
Here’s a great quote from Fox CEO Roger Ailes in the release: “Most of the CNN talent have been restrained from showing what they can do — we’re looking forward to providing Gerri with a platform at Fox Business to showcase her financial acumen and television expertise.”
The full FBN release:
FOX Business Network (FBN) has signed a multi-year deal with CNN’s Gerri Willis, announced Kevin Magee, Executive Vice President for the network. Willis will serve as a host of a weekend program and will also appear across all programming to provide analysis on how the news of the day affects American taxpayers. She will make her debut on the network on Monday, March 15th.
In making the announcement Magee said, “We are extremely excited to welcome Gerri to the FOX Business family and look forward to utilizing her expertise on consumer and personal finance issues.”
FOX News and Fox Business Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes said, “Most of the CNN talent have been restrained from showing what they can do — we’re looking forward to providing Gerri with a platform at Fox Business to showcase her financial acumen and television expertise.”
In addition to providing commentary across FBN, Willis will also host a primetime weekend program entitled the Willis Report. The program will focus on consumer and personal finance issues and will make its debut in the second quarter of this year.
Willis added, “I am thrilled to join the FOX Business Network team and look forward to creating a new show to help viewers understand how the week’s top economic developments affect their wallets.”
While at CNN, Willis served as the personal finance editor for CNN Business News and hosted the weekly half hour “Your Bottom Line” program. Prior to CNN, Willis was the senior financial correspondent for Smart Money magazine.
A graduate of Columbia Business School where she was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow, Willis is the author of two business books, “The Smart Money Guide to Real Estate Investing” and “Home Rich.” She was also the winner of the Excellence in Retirement Savings Reporting award in 2001, which is bestowed by the American University School of Communication and the Investment Company Institute’s Education Foundation.
