Maria Bartiromo.

Maria Bartiromo. | AP Photo/Richard Drew

Maria Bartiromo: Biz TV's day-trader audience 'isn't there anymore'

Maria Bartiromo, who returns to financial television news this morning as the anchor of "Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo" on Fox Business News, spoke with The Wall Street Journal about her motivation for leaving CNBC after 20 years with the network and her plans for working with Fox.

Denying that money was the driving factor in her decision, Bartiromo said: "CNBC's offer was generous in all respects. But I was looking [at]  what would have been my fifth five-year deal with CNBC and it looked a lot like what I had been doing before."

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She characterized the network as broadcasting to day traders, an audience that "isn't there anymore," she said.

Bartiromo confirmed she has taken her Rolodex of go-to guests with her to CNBC's competitor, as well as her nickname. "I'm sticking with 'Money Honey,'" she said. "I actually own that name in connection with a children's educational video project I worked on about 10 years ago." 

But Bartiromo, as Fox Business News' global markets editor, will not be leaning right like other Fox personalities. "I'm a journalist," she said. "Some people are commentators and that's fine, but people are also giving their opinions when no one has asked for them. I'm not going to fall into that."

In addition to her two-hour-long weekday program, Bartiromo will host a Sunday business program on Fox News Channel. 

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