New Orleans Then and Now

It's been years since I last visited New Orleans, and it feels great to be back! Yesterday I flew down to the Crescent City for the annual NCTA convention. The NCTA, or National Cable and Telecommunications Association, meets once a year. Last year it was in Las Vegas. This year it's in New Orleans. A lot of big business decisions get accomplished at the convention. In the cable world, the convention is a place where networks like Fox Business have an opportunity to sell themselves to cable operators, hoping they will be bought and put on cable systems. Many of the different cable properties vie for the same space and attention. We all want our channel to be accepted and distributed -- fully-distributed. Approximately 95 million homes subscribe to cable or satellite television and the number of television sets in the home is even higher (approximately 110 million). The goal of a network is to get full distribution (i.e. to be in all 95 million homes). In our case, as in most cases, that process takes years. Part of the issue today is which tier you wind up in or negotiate for, whether it be digital, basic or expanded basic. That can also dictate the number of eyeballs watching your channel. It's an exceptionally competitive business and consumers have more choices than ever.

In addition to coming down here for the convention, I also came down to New Orleans to see how much has changed since Hurricane Katrina. As I mentioned at the top of this blog, the last time I was here was well before Katrina. I came here with my husband the weekend Princess Diana died. For that reason alone, we will never forget our trip. We had such a memorable trip visiting Commander's Palace, Brennan's, Preservation Hall and The House of Blues. I was here one other time for the Jazz Fest, but that too was years ago. I was anxious to get down here this time and see what had changed.

If you're in the middle of the city or in the French Quarter, it looks the same, although it does feel much quieter. There are tourists, a fair amount, but somehow it does feel a little lonely. Yesterday I had to get dolled up for my first interview on the ground with President and COO of News Corp, Peter Chernin. (News Corp is the parent company of the FOX Business Network.) The women that came to do my hair and makeup were so lovely. They told me their personal stories -- why they left after Katrina and why they decided to come back years later; how it has changed and what they hope for the future. The biggest change they both talked about -- and which I have heard echoed from the local taxi cab drivers -- is how many people did not return. Many families moved to Houston, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia and some remained in Louisiana, but moved to places like Baton Rouge and Shreveport. There are plenty of jobs to be had -- in fact, the unemployment rate is 3.8%, but housing is not nearly as affordable. Rents in the city are much higher than what they were pre-Katrina, and the outskirts of the city have not changed a bit. Everyone tells me that the minute you drive outside the city or to places like the Ninth Ward, it looks like time is standing still -- that the storm occurred yesterday. Homes are vacant or vandalized, crime is on an upswing and many neighborhoods still haven't seen the light of day. On the other hand, jobs are plentiful, business investment is very strong, oil and gas -- huge businesses for the state -- are booming and the New Orleans ports -- the biggest in the country -- are firing on all cylinders. Not to mention the great sense of excitement and comradery surrounding tonight's game seven NBA Western Semifinal game between the Hornets and the San Antonio Spurs here in New Orleans. Despite all of the naysayers, the New Orleans Saints and Hornets have not only exceeded everyone's expectations in terms of performance on the field and on the court, but they have also put all of the rumor and speculation to rest about whether the teams could survive post-Katrina.

This morning, I anchored Money for Breakfast (7-9am ET) and The Opening Bell (9-10am ET) from Cafe Du Monde, a local institution, known for it's beignets. They're like doughnuts covered in sugar and they're unbelievably good! Kim Quillen, business editor of the New Orleans Times Picayune, Peter Richhiuti, assistant dean at the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University and Burt Benrud, the vice president of Cafe Du Monde joined me. Take a look at what they had to say.

I also talked to Tom Darden, director of Brad Pitt's initiative to rebuild New Orleans, the Make it Right Foundation, as well as a makeup artist LeDiedra Baldwin who left after Hurricane Katrina and returned last fall for the Fox television show K-Ville, which has since been cancelled. Pitt has pledged more than $5 million to rebuild the lower Ninth Ward. His goal is to build 150 homes at the outset. So far the foundation has broken ground on six homes which it hopes will be complete by the end of this summer. It's one of the best and most highly publicized stories in the post-Katrina era because it's about revitalizing the area that was hardest hit, and where the residents had the most to lose.

Part I

Part II