Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Fox Business Network, the two-year- old News Corp. television channel, is in discussions to replace its morning financial shows with talk show host Don Imus, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

No agreement has been reached, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. A television simulcast of Imus’s radio show now runs on RFD-TV, a cable outlet carried predominantly in rural parts of the U.S.

Adding “Imus in the Morning,” which airs from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. New York time on RFD, may move Fox Business into more general news topics, including sports and politics, according to Jack Myers, chief executive of Myers Publishing, a New York- based media economics research firm. During recent shows, Imus, 69, has also discussed financial subjects such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the economy.

“If he really starts getting into business commentary, it’s a great way to re-use his brand,” Myers said in a telephone interview today.

Fox Business currently runs “Fox Business Morning” from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and “Money for Breakfast” from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Imus was fired from CBS Radio and MSNBC television in 2007 after making derogatory comments about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. Later that year, he started broadcasting from New York’s WABC Radio, a unit of Citadel Broadcasting Corp.

WABC Broadcast

While Imus also signed a contract with RFD in 2007, he has recently held talks with other potential TV outlets to replace the network, said one of the people familiar with the matter. On WABC, distribution of the show has risen to 65 affiliated stations from 47, according to Matthew Hiltzik, a New York-based spokesman for Imus.

Irena Briganti, a spokeswoman for Fox Business News, said the network talks to “interesting and engaging talent all the time.”

Fox Business competes with General Electric Co.’s CNBC and Bloomberg Television, owned by Bloomberg LP.

Executives at RFD, a unit of Elkhorn, Nebraska-based Rural Media Group Inc., didn’t return phone calls or e-mail messages seeking comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brett Pulley in Los Angeles at bpulley@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 11, 2009 14:29 EDT