The three business networks have turned their focus to severe weather coverage today as Hurricane Sandy forced the close of the stock markets. Bloomberg TV, Fox Business and CNBC have all set special coverage plans for today that focus on the economic impact of the storm, expected to make landfall later today.

Bloomberg TV will shift into special Hurricane Sandy coverage at 1pmET, which is when the storm’s intensity is supposed to increase on the East Coast. Stephanie Ruhle and Erik Schatzker anchor the 1pmET hour, Betty Liu anchors the 2pmET hour and Trish Regan and Adam Johnson anchor from 3-6pmET. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is handling weather forecasts.

Fox Business broadcast a special report in place of “Imus in the Morning” this morning, anchored by Dagen McDowell and Connell McShane. FBN’s Robert Gray is in Battery Park and Sandra Smith is at the CME throughout the day. Neil Cavuto will host primetime coverage of the storm tonight beginning at 7pmET.

CNBC will have regular programming until 7pmET. The network is replacing “The Kudlow Report” with a live two-hour special report anchored by Bill Griffeth and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

Fox Business Network is going into insta-special mode this afternoon.

Gerri Willis will host “Crunch Times: Tim Tebow, Sean Payton, and the Business of the NFL” tonight at 8pmET/PT. The special will take an in-depth look at the league’s volatile post-season leading up to the NFL draft and how the news that Peyton Manning is going to Denver, Tim Tebow has been traded to the New York Jets and the one-season suspension of New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, will impact the teams’ bottom lines. Willis will be joined by FBN’s Connell McShane, Sandra Smith, and Dennis Kneale to explain the financial impact of the recent moves within the NFL.

Don Imus‘s morning show has never been on more radio stations than it is today — more than 80.

But the cowboy boot-wearing jock is having a hard time finding his footing on TV. In the just finished November ratings period, “Imus in the Morning” was the least watched FBN program in A25-54 viewers, averaging 6,000 from 6-9am. An improvement from the 5,000 who watched last month, but down -50% from the 12,000 average in Nov. 2010, when the mid-term elections were the big story.

By comparison, CNBC which is available in 40 million more homes, had more than 10x the A25-54 viewers with 70,000 watching “Squawk Box”. The gap narrows in total viewers as Imus drew 92,000 to CNBC’s 175,000: and both shows grew their Total Viewer numbers year-over-year.

Since May, (5/5/11 – 11/25/11) when Connell McShane took over for Charles McCord, the show has seen an -18% drop in A25-54 viewers. And despite crowing about an occasional win against “Squawk Box”, Imus has not logged a win in the 6-9am block this year, in either Total Viewers or the demo.

Earlier this month, Imus went after his “bastard” viewers for watching one day and not the next, which led Fox Business anchor Neil Cavuto to go on the show and declare it wasn’t the viewers’ fault “that your show is awful.”

Imus launched on FBN October 5, 2009 and with another year left on his deal, Fox Business may be looking for what’s next. So might Imus. His deal with FBN comes to an end around the same time as The Wall Street Journal‘s partnership with CNBC expires. Though both are owned by News Corp., an FBN-WSJ team-up is not a sure thing.

The TV version of “Imus in the Morning” aired on MSNBC from 1996-2007 and on RFD-TV from 2007-2009.

• Cable news morning ratings (Nov. 2011)

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Following their heartbreaking loss to Japan last weekend in the Women’s World Cup final, the U.S. Women’s National Team, has been making the media rounds stateside. Their appearances have been breaking out the soccer fan in a handful of TV news anchors and hosts, who have taken to the narrow hallways of their midtown office buildings to show off their soccer skills in advance of interviews with team members.

Take MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who showed off a few moves in-between rows of cubicles at 30 Rock… and damaging a ceiling in the process:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

On Fox Business Network Thursday, Connell McShane‘s daughter Lucy did some passing drills with National Team member Heather O’Reilly inside the crowded News Corp. building:

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Fox Business Network is on the move in Chicago. Starting tomorrow FBN’s Chicago Bureau will be located above the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This is the first time a financial news network will have a branded booth within the CME trading area. As you can see in the photo above FBN’s bureau is beside the broadcasting space shared by CNBC, CNN and other networks.

CME Executive Chairman Terry Duffy will join FBN’s Connell McShane to help celebrate the launch tomorrow morning. The Bureau, including correspondent Jeff Flock, were previously co-located with the Fox News Chicago bureau on Wacker Drive.

So, apparently it’s “Good-bye Friday.” Charles McCord, Don Imus‘ longtime sidekick on the radio and on TV, had his last broadcast today. FBN’s Connell McShane takes over on the show. Here’s the look-back from “Imus in the Morning.”

Don Imus‘s longtime sidekick Charles McCord is leaving “Imus in the Morning”, effectively giving three weeks notice on the air this morning.

FBN anchor Connell McShane will take over the seat on both the radio and TV shows beginning May 9. McShane will continue co-anchoring 11amET hour alongside Dagan McDowell on FBN.

McCord has been with Imus since the early 1970s when Imus’s show was on NBC radio. They remained together as Imus moved to WFAN, simulcast on MSNBC, and finally to WABC Radio and FBN. Writes David Hinckley in today’s Daily News:

McCord, who shares Imus’s penchant for personal privacy, added no details after Imus made the announcement. Both seemed upbeat, as Imus played the Righteous Brothers’s “Try To Find Another Man” and Imus joked that “I feel like Newt Gingrich’s wife” – alluding to Gingrich serving his wife divorce papers while she was in the hospital.

While Imus on the radio continues to do well, “the best number of his career,” writes Hinckley, his TV numbers are down. Earlier this week, HuffingtonPost revealed first quarter numbers showing Imus is down -45% from Q1 2010, averaging about 65,000 total viewers. The show averaged around 127,000 viewers when it launched in October 2009.

> Earlier on TVNewser: VIDEO – Connell McShane Looks Beyond Cable

Fox Business Network, the 3-and-half year old sibling to Fox News Channel, enters a new era Monday as the network becomes a full service client of Nielsen.

As we revealed yesterday, the network has a long road ahead to catch market leader CNBC. But the green shoots are appearing. Tuesday’s 11am hour was the second highest-rated telecast for that hour. Still, FBN EVP Kevin Magee is aware of the challenges: “We have to get the distribution up and get in front of people’s eyes. Because we know when they find us, they like what they see and they stick.”

Magee, who’s had stints at CNBC and ABC News, joined Fox News in 2000 and was given the reigns of FBN at launch. “I always say, people watch people. They watch the anchors they know. I believe that our talent is better than their (CNBC’s) talent,” says Magee. “It’s as simple as that. And we’re breaking through.”

FBN is also breaking through to the most affluent consumers. According to a Mendelsohn survey, which measures heads of households making $100,000 a year, CNBC has about 30% of that market, while FBN is next with 12%, followed by Yahoo Finance (7.6%), Bloomberg (5.9%) and the Wall Street Journal (5.6%).

TVNewser: What do you think being a full service client of Nielsen will mean to the perception of the network?

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Fox Business Network is reworking its dayside lineup to make room for its latest hire, former Bloomberg TV reporter Lori Rothman.

Rothman will join Chris Cotter as co-anchor of a new 1 PM program.

At 11 AM, Dagen McDowell and Connell McShane will serve as co-anchors, with Cheryl Casone handling the noon time period solo.

Talking Biz news has the details of the new lineup.

The rest of the dayside schedule will remain unchanged.

Fox Business Network has announced, after weeks of speculation around the industry, that radio host Don Imus will be joining the network starting October 5th. Imus signed a multi-year deal with FBN to simulcast “Imus in the Morning” weekdays from 6-9amET along with his radio syndication. The announcement stated that Imus will be incorporating more business news into his format.

TVNewser had reported in early August that the host was in talks with FBN to bring the simulcast to the network. A few weeks later, Imus announced that he would be leaving RFD-TV much earlier than he had originally signed on for, furthering speculation.

Executive VP Kevin Magee made the announcement today saying, “We’re excited to welcome a renowned broadcaster like Don Imus to the FOX Business team. His 40 years of on-air experience combined with his superb interviewing skills and capitalist sensibilities will be a great addition to our lineup.”

DEVELOPING

> Update: Here’s how it will affect FBN’s programming: Jenna Lee, Connell McShane, and Ashley Webster will co-anchor the 5-6amET “Fox Business Morning” and will report breaking financial and pre-market news on “Imus in the Morning.” “Money for Breakfast” will end and host Alexis Glick will continue as anchor for “Opening Bell” at 9amET and as FBN’s VP for Business News.

This will be Imus’ cable news return after being dropped by MSNBC following controversial comments in 2007.