First Business


First Business was a nationally syndicated financial news and analysis television program, produced by First Business Network LLC, a subsidiary of Weigel Broadcasting, in Chicago. Anchor Angela Miles, reporters Chuck Coppola and Bill Moller, and executive producer Harvey Moshman brought viewers commentary from the floors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board Options Exchange, as well as from their studios in the West Loop. The program covered the financial and economic markets including equities, futures, options, commodities, foreign exchange, and geo-political news.
The program, which typically aired before local and national morning news timeslots, had been marginalized as those shows began to start earlier, with First Business often moved to lower-rated and lower-viewed graveyard slots. The program's cancellation ended 47 years of Weigel Broadcasting and their flagship station WCIU-TV carrying and originating business-focused programming from Chicago.

Syndication

As of the fall 2011 season, the program was carried daily on more than 100 US broadcast stations and in outlets across 46 foreign countries. The stations included affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW, MyNetworkTV, as well as independent stations. Air times varied, though the timeslots for the show in the majority of markets was 4:00am through 7:00am leading into early morning national newscasts or local morning newscasts. The only requirement the show enforced was that the program must air before the NYSE opening bell at 9:30am ET. The show was syndicated by Weigel Broadcasting and sold by Edward. E. Finch & Company.

History

The First Business program was originally launched in 1989 by BizNet, the broadcast division of the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC. From its inception through its BizNet years with the US Chamber of Commerce, the First Business program production team was led by BizNet News Director Densil Allen.
The production of First Business was later taken over from BizNet by CONUS Communications, a joint venture of Viacom and Hubbard Broadcasting also responsible for All News Channel, who would produce the program until 2003. Barton Eckert hosted the program from CONUS' bureau in Washington, DC, with his anchor segments being fed via satellite to CONUS' headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, where news packages acquired from CONUS' local member stations nationwide and other sources would be inserted into the program along with Eckert's anchor segments fed in from Washington, with the finished program being delivered via satellite to local stations from St. Paul every weekday. During this era, the program also aired in the early mornings on the USA Network; at the time CONUS, via its cable network All News Channel, produced short USA Update newsbriefs for the network.
In 2003, Weigel Broadcasting took over the program and moved the show to Chicago. With the loss of affiliates for the show due to expanded local morning news, Weigel decided to shut down the program. First Business News last show was produced on December 22, 2014.
Former host Angela Miles now hosts and produces the identically formatted Business First AM, which airs in a similar time slot.

Notable former on-air staff