Comments on: CNBC VIEWERSHIP DECLINES 40% YEAR OVER YEAR, 19% VERSUS ’07

By: TPC

TPC — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:08:46 +0000

That doesn’t explain why viewership is down 19% vs 2007 though. 2007 was pretty boring and benign. Of course the comps to 2008 are impossible, but being down 19% vs 2007 shows that they are genuinely losing viewers.

By: Jay @marketfolly

Jay @marketfolly — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:58:38 +0000

Your point about non-financial viewership is right on the money and I think is the key to their ratings swinging one way or the other. Financial industry will have it tuned in regardless (on mute) just for breaking news.

If you’re doing direct year over year comparisons to 2008 in Sept, Oct, and Nov you’re essentially competing right with the heart of the crisis. I’d argue that people are WAY more concerned when they’re losing thousands of dollars in a tanking market than about possibly making money when the market heads higher. I’d even stretch to say that if the market is back up and to ‘normal’ in their eyes, they take their mind off it since they’re not losing anything anymore.. they feel more secure as if they don’t have to worry about it.

I guess my point is that when the market is essentially crashing, people panic and try to find out what’s happening and what they should do. Crisis events (to the downside) are usually a peak in media.

But yea I’m sure they’ve shifted to other outlets of news and information given everything that’s happened as I know a lot of people have re-evaluated how they think about and approach their investments.

By: TPC

TPC — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:47:49 +0000

I just have to disagree. Why would viewership be so much higher at the market peak than today? We are in the middle of one of the greatest financial crises ever and the market is undergoing one of the greatest rallies of all-time. Many assets are near all-time highs. If anything, you could easily make the argument that more people are tuning into financial news than ever.

Luckily for you and I Jay, I think they are turning to other sources of information (primarily the financial blogosphere). It would be very interesting to see how much financial blog traffic has grown since 2007….

By: Jay @marketfolly

Jay @marketfolly — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:16:30 +0000

I was scrolling down here to suggest that 07 and 08 would have been much higher ratings regardless due to the events taking place (market highs in 07, crisis in 08), but I see someone has already suggested that. So while we might all not be fond of them and while CNBC does indeed ‘suck’ (for lack of a better term), they were doomed in YOY comparisons regardless.

By: TPC

TPC — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:17:57 +0000

Doug,

You’re losing site of the forest for the trees. I am not simply trashing CNBC – I am disappointed with the entire financial media for their biased and unbalanced reporting on what goes on in the world of finance.

CNBC just happens to be the 800 pound gorilla.

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:50:46 +0000

I’m not asking you to watch CNBC – in fact, I barely watch it myself these days.

But I made a silly assumption that you guys would actually put some facts forward to give your viewers some context into their ratings.

Guess I was wrong.

By: TPC

TPC — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:39:53 +0000

Pardon me. CNBC is incredible. I will turn it on immediately and my portfolio will blossom into a gold vault over the coming years. The message is clear: the financial news media has failed consumers. It’s not just a CNBC thing.

By: Tyler Eliott

Tyler Eliott — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:39:34 +0000

MSNBC is simply awful.. The Market could drop 8000 pts in a day and by 4p, all the talking dum-dums would be screaming what a wonderful buying opportunity this was.. The worst of all the NBC owned networks.

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:33:05 +0000

What are you guys smoking at this blog?

Obviously CNBC’s viewership would be down from 2007 because it was October/November 2007 when the markets were rallying to ALL-TIME RECORD HIGHS. For people who run a finance-centric blog, you’d think that you would be able to point out a simple fact like that. Or did the folks over at Fox “Business” instruct you not to put any facts down in your report?

And to put CNBC’s numbers into further context, they beat MSNBC for EVERY hour between 9am and 4pm during the whole MONTH of November – and this was despite CNBC’s 40% decline from ’08 to ’09.

By: Chance

Chance — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:18:06 +0000

Couldn’t agree more… CNBC just doesn’t get it. They’re format, anchors, and pundits represent the ‘old’ wall street that most people despise now. The curtain’s been pulled back on the whole lie, and they march along like nothing has happened. I think they feel like if they just stick to their guns, eventually the economy and public will come around and embrace the network again. They won’t. Because people realize now that CNBC was and is central to the entire culture of hype and bullshit that caused the financial crisis to begin with.