News Corp. has yet to decide whether a Fox business news channel is viable, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes said today. Here's the Reuters summary: "Ailes appeared to soften definitive public comments by executives of parent company News Corp. who in January said they were aggressively pushing for a launch in the second half of this year." A quote from Ailes: "I keep telling Rupert, 'Quit saying that.'"

More: "Ailes said Fox still needed to learn who the viewers would be, where they lived and why they would watch a third cable business channel. 'The question is, does an audience for business news really exist, have they gone on the Internet? ... Are you playing to the viewers in Indiana who are investing, are you playing to Wall Street?'"

Other quotes from Ailes: "We'll decide whether or not that's viable," he said. "We are committed until we're not committed." And: "You don't pull the trigger until you know you can win."

> Also: Associated Press: "Ailes said Thursday he'd have no problem hiring Dan Rather - except the former CBS anchorman makes too much money." More...