Int’l markets hit. CNBC US/Bloomberg in tape. FBN Live.
Today is Martin Luther King Day and the US Markets are closed. However the world markets aren’t and they’ve been reeling from fears over the U.S. economy. Because of the holiday, CNBC U.S. was running tape today. Even Bloomberg went to tape after 11 am ET. However FBN has been live covering the international plunge all day.
Yes, it’s a U.S. holiday and U.S. markets are closed. Also CNBC World has been live covering the story (if you have CNBC World that is, and not many do) and CNBC Asia will be streamed on CNBC.com later today. But CNBC U.S. will now end up looking like it was caught napping today compared to its upstart competition, even though the potential audience for this story would have been paltry. Even though from a profit/loss standpoint it doesn’t make sense to be live today for CNBC with the U.S Markets closed, from a perception standpoint, it looks bad to be dark when a story like this breaks. And I would expect FBN to milk this for all it’s worth.
On the other hand if nothing had happened internationally today, nobody would be questioning CNBC being dark. But again, there was the CNBC World option. CNN will turn over to CNNI overnight if there’s breaking news so I don’t understand why that’s not an option for CNBC.
Update: Silicon Alley Insider’s Henry Blodget opines…
I’ll bet CNBCW has more subs in the US than FBN at this precise moment in time. And I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.
Comment by Terance — January 21, 2008 @ 4:03 pm
Personally I think that CNBC should have either gone live from 6am to 12pm (when Euro markets close), or should have simulcasted CNBC World from 6am to 12pm. I agree that from an audience standpoint it looked bad that they weren’t live during one of the biggest market meltdowns in recent history. Ideally I would have liked to see Squawk and The Call aired live with market updates from their vast global resources — I never understood why they don’t take more advantage of their numerous international affiliates and networks.
Comment by Anonymous — January 21, 2008 @ 4:27 pm
Honestly, I’m amazed they couldn’t put up one hour, one measly hour, of coverage on around the time of closing bell traditionally n the US, or even when it closes in Europe. It’s a sad day when I have to rely on Cavuto on FNC for business news and see his program start with “business stories” like a housing building on fire in New Jersey (who cares) and a cold snap (we all know about this) before a blip about the international markets and then a turn to political stories before they even mention it again like half an hour later. Business news show, my ass, I really wish CNBC would have had a little live coverage today.
Comment by Chris — January 21, 2008 @ 5:27 pm
Fox Business has already touted how they’re the only business network open for business today.
Comment by Christopher — January 21, 2008 @ 7:03 pm
You know, the weird thing is that CNBC used to go live (on holidays) back when it was in Fort Lee — they used to do call-in shows mixed in with business/regular news updates. Wonder why they stopped.
Comment by Anonymous — January 21, 2008 @ 7:06 pm
Gee, Terance, I just read the same line on TVNewser. Were you their “anonymous emailer?”
Comment by Ira — January 21, 2008 @ 7:50 pm
^ Yes Ira. Now, if he’ll just post my rebuttal to Henry Blodgett about, “who gets CNBCW?”
Comment by Terance — January 21, 2008 @ 7:53 pm
Those of us without FBN are still out of luck. When I found out about this debacle, I turned on FNC and Cavuto was discussing a movie with Marc Rudov!
Comment by Missy — January 21, 2008 @ 8:33 pm
And this is one of the exact reasons why after FBN gets some further carriage, it’s only a matter of time before it overtakes CNBC as the financial network of record.
Comment by Laurel — January 21, 2008 @ 10:36 pm
“And this is one of the exact reasons why after FBN gets some further carriage, it’s only a matter of time before it overtakes CNBC as the financial network of record.”
Are you kidding me? They have no coverage on anything legitimate. This is a one time event that they just happened to stumble upon. They are ridiculous when it comes to real business news coverage.
Comment by rickw — January 21, 2008 @ 10:46 pm
Watching a little bit of CNBC Asia streaming online, they are playing this thing with some type of horror music going into commercials. Now the question is, how much is CNBC America going to sensationalize this whole thing and how much are the other networks going to but in to try to get some ratings from this whole event.
Comment by Chris — January 21, 2008 @ 11:59 pm
what’s fbn? ahhh..the funny business network.
Comment by Me — January 22, 2008 @ 12:34 am
^
In another 2-3 years you’ll be whining about FBN like you do about FNC. You BIG baby lol.
Comment by Lurker — January 22, 2008 @ 9:12 am
If a tree falls in the woods does it make noise?
Comment by RC — January 22, 2008 @ 9:48 am
To defend CNBC: CNBC had this day of tape planned, they couldn’t plan a market crisis. CNBC has hundreds of hours of pre-taped programming to choose from while FBN does not. Say in 20 years if this happens again will FBN still be live…or will they have already chosen to air tape?
Comment by Aaron — January 22, 2008 @ 4:22 pm