What constitutes a hit?
This morning in today’s CNBC story in the Observer, Felix Gillette called CNBC’s Mad Money a “hit”. Well I guess that all depends on what constitutes a hit. Sure it’s generated some buzz in the press and boosted Cramer’s profile at the network. But one key way to note hit status is by the ratings. And lately, Cramer’s Mad Money has been doing a lot of scratching in the Demo.
Below is a chart of CNBC’s Mad Money from the start of Q3 to today. Scratches are highlighted in red…
(numbers are Live)
That translates into a 53% Demo scratch rate for Mad Money since the start of Q3. If that’s Gillette’s idea of a “hit”, well okay then…
Neat charts. Did you make them or did someone else?
Comment by Steve — September 19, 2007 @ 2:11 pm
From the same network that proclaimed John McEnroe a hit!
Comment by Ira — September 19, 2007 @ 2:33 pm
MSNBC does this constantly, so this must be a common tactic among those in the NBC family of networks.
Comment by Missy — September 19, 2007 @ 5:17 pm
But Missy, CNBC didn’t do anything wrong. It was the writer of the article who called Mad Money a “hit” (by error I guess)
Comment by Anonymous — September 19, 2007 @ 5:20 pm
Anonymous, you are correct. Sorry for my error.
Comment by Missy — September 19, 2007 @ 9:25 pm
well it may not be a “hit” by the stats.and it may not get the ratings it once did.Think of all the people that lost money with Jim’s off the cuff tips;they may not care to watch(money gone).He gives good advice but two much of it and the law of large numbers catches up with him(can’t be right al the time).In any case he still moves stocks like “wall st week” back in the day
Comment by david — September 19, 2007 @ 9:41 pm
Well hmmm if we say this is scratching all the time…..CNBC is barely watched and almost all of its shows scratch at least once or twice a weak so…..who cares. The only reason NBC execs are keeping this channel on is b/c it must be turning a profit.
Comment by Aaron — September 20, 2007 @ 10:17 pm
A hit compared to what? Mad Money’s certainly getting better numbers than Bullseye, the show it replaced, and some of those scratches are actually considered good at CNBC (also summer months tend to be worse–just a guess–for the whole network because traders are on vacation).
Two points: first the CPM–how much money they get per viewer, is much higher on CNBC than the other cable news networks, and Mad Money has a high CPM for a CNBC show. So they’re still coining money.
Second point: this is CNBC! Cramer’s turned himself into a genuine, recognizable celebrity. Not sure which CNBC shows get better ratings, but I doubt the man on the street recognizes their hosts. That’s part of what makes a hit too.
Comment by Cliff Mason — September 21, 2007 @ 5:25 am