1440 Wall Street on Jim Cramer…
1440 Wall Street blogs about CNBC’s Jim Cramer and the Bolling bet, ratings, and business network spats…
The media sniping is not likely to end, at least until Fox Business and Cramer get their ratings up. Although Fox’s issues are well known, they will get a free pass for a few more months. Cramer’s Mad Money has issues, however. The show is certainly amusing, but the ratings are suffering given how thin Cramer is spreading himself. Just this week, he ‘s been on the Today Show, Imus and The Apprentice.
The question is why? If he’s so popular why are the ratings so soft? CNBC’s Mad Money is scratching in the core demo. Wednesday night, only 45,000 people between the ages of 25-54 were watching Cramer at 6pm (he had nearly 200,000 viewers) . A scratch is defined as not meeting minimum reporting standards for Nielsen; CNBC program’s will scratch below 51,000. If you need to get his picks and pans you don’t have to watch the show, just punch up one of the many websites that chronicle his recommendations.
But the media battle is as interesting as any battleground in a stock, and Cramer’s soundbites are priceless.
Cram it, Cramer. You don’t have such a hot record of picking stocks. Blame the Federal Reserve for your low ratings too if it makes you feel better.
Comment by Haile Welde — January 18, 2008 @ 9:16 pm
How about those FBN numbers huh Haile?
Comment by Aaron — January 19, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
Aaron. You’re not ignorant of the facts, because I posted them a couple of days ago, which you read (in fact, you posted right after me). Yet you persist on trashing FBN, despite knowing what you’re saying to be false? Here was my earlier post:
This “Oh, I’m so shocked a new network (FBN) has 6,000 viewers!” is extremely disingenuous.
1) That’s around the ratings FOX News was getting at the end of it’s first year! It’s only been a few weeks for FBN.
2) On top of that, FBN has a far smaller niche audience to draw from than did FOX News.
3) As Ira stated, they have a tiny percentage of CNBC’s distribution at this stage. That will expand exponentially over the years, also helped by News Corp.’s acquisition of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, etc.
4) FOX News _ALREADY_ has the 5 top rated business shows on cable! How convenient for those ultra-liberal reporters to poo-poo FBN’s ratings, and conveniently ‘forget’ to mention this in their reporting.
5) FOX executives have shown with FNC that their strategy is in evolving things to perfection, not pre-perfecting shows before putting them on the air.
So I hope someone is saving all these articles and posts trashing FBN, because in a couple of years, they’ll ALL change their tune to blaming it’s high ratings on “low-IQ business viewers”, or “conservative moneymen” watching religiously, or FBN “taking the easy route” and stoop to people’s base natures and using sex to sell business news by flaunting all the ‘come-hitherly women’.
Comment by Haile Welde — January 19, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
Well Haile if you regularly read the comments you would have seen my position that FBN will get better when the WSJ can kick in and when they get rid of stupid anchors like Pete Barnes and David Ramsey.
Comment by Aaron — January 19, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
Aaron: For the second time from me (and at least the second time from Haile,) I’ll reiterate the basics of Cable 101:
No matter what the programs or the anchors, the Fox Business Network numbers can not and will not improve until they get into more homes. Period, end of story.
BTW, later today I’ll be posting a blog piece about FBN both on my site and Chronwatch. Check it out!
Comment by Ira — January 20, 2008 @ 12:37 pm