CNBC

40°53′55″N 73°56′21″W

For other uses, see CNBC U.S., the business news channel in the U.S..

CNBC

Country	United States
Headquarters	Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, U.S.
Ownership
Owner	NBC Universal

CNBC's SNG truck

CNBC (an abbreviation for the "Consumer News and Business Channel", its official name until 1991) is a group of cable and satellite television business news channels from the U.S., owned and operated by NBC Universal. CNBC and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers around the world. The network is currently ranked as the 19th most valuable cable channel in the U.S., worth roughly $4 billion.

History of CNBC U.S.

The CNBC logo on the pillar of the overhang in front of the NJ HQ main entrance.

The CNBC channel originally had its beginnings around 1980 as The Satellite Program Network (SPN), showing a low-budget mix of old movies, instructional & entertainment programs, and infomercials. The channel later changed its name to Tempo Television. After initially signing a letter of intent to acquire Tempo, NBC eventually opted for a deal to lease the channel's transponder in June 1988. On this platform, the channel was relaunched on April 17, 1989 as the Consumer News and Business Channel. NBC and Cablevision initially operated CNBC as a 50-50 joint venture, choosing to headquarter the channel in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

The newsroom at CNBC headquarters, also used to host Power Lunch.

CNBC had considerable difficulty getting cable carriage at first, as many providers were skeptical of placing it alongside the longer-established Financial News Network. By the winter of 1990, CNBC was only in 17 million homes - less than half of FNN's potential reach - despite having the muscle of NBC standing behind it.

However, around this time, FNN encountered serious financial difficulties. After a protracted bidding war, CNBC merged with FNN in May 1991, and the name "Consumer News and Business Channel" was dropped. Cablevision sold its 50% stake to NBC upon completion of the deal. At first, the network's business programming was branded "CNBC/FNN," but that was dropped before the mid-90's.

CNBC began to grow during the 90's, launching Asian and European versions of the channel in 1995 and 1996 respectively. In 1997, CNBC formed a strategic alliance with Dow Jones, including content sharing with Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal and the rebranding of the channel as "a service of NBC and Dow Jones". CNBC's international channels were then merged with their Dow Jones-owned rivals, London-based EBN (European Business News) and Singapore-based ABN (Asia Business News) in 1998, while ratings grew on the U.S. channel until the new millennium's dot-com bubble burst in 2000.

The front entrance of CNBC's New Jersey HQ

The new millennium also brought changes to the network, moving its world headquarters from Fort Lee to Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey in 2003, which features completely digital video production and studios made by PDG Ltd of Beeston, Nottinghamshire and the FX Group of Ocoee, Florida.

NBC Universal reacquired full control of CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia from Dow Jones at the end of 2005. The licensing agreement between Dow and CNBC U.S. remained intact, however.

Today, CNBC provides business news programming from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk shows, investigative reports, documentaries, infomercials, and other programs during the evening and early morning. A rolling ticker provides real-time updates on share prices on the NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX, as well as market indices, news summaries, and weather updates by NBC Weather Plus (prior to March 27, 2006, all of CNBC's weather reports were provided by AccuWeather). A rotating top band of the screen rotates provides real-time updates on index and commodity prices from world markets.

CNBC is the only NBC network whose abbreviation, while containing NBC, stands for another name: the Consumer News and Business Channel. The moniker was simply shortened to CNBC when the former was dropped.

Programming

See also: Category:CNBC programs

Present shows

CNBC provides a variety of programs throughout the business day presenting reports on U.S. businesses, updates of stock market indices and commodities prices, interviews with CEOs and business leaders, and commentary from many investment professionals. The following is the usual "business day" (term used by CNBC hosts and announcers) lineup (as of October 10, 2007, all times Eastern):

ET	Program	Hosts	Description	Corresponding programs
				CNBC Europe	CNBC Asia
4a-6a	Worldwide Exchange	Brian Shactman, Ross Westgate, Christine Tan	first word on movements on futures exchanges and trading in Europe and Asia	Capital Connection	Squawk Australia
6a-9a	Squawk Box	Joe Kernen, Carl Quintanilla, Rebecca Quick, Charles Gasparino	provides a mix of business news and commentary	Squawk Box Europe	Asia Squawk Box
9a-11a	Squawk on the Street	Mark Haines, Erin Burnett (both live from NYSE), David Faber	broadcasts live from above the New York Stock Exchange
11a-12p	The Call	Dylan Ratigan, Trish Regan, Melissa Francis (Ratigan live from NYSE)	focuses on real-time market coverage	Worldwide Exchange	CNBC's Cash Flow
12p-2p	Power Lunch	Bill Griffeth, Sue Herera	examines the companies, people, and trends influencing Wall Street, plus real-time market coverage at the midway point of the trading day	Power Lunch Europe	Capital Connection
2p-3p	Street Signs	Erin Burnett	focuses on trends, world events affecting stock markets, and real-time market coverage
3p-5p	Closing Bell	Maria Bartiromo, co-hosted with Dylan Ratigan for the 3-4pm hour (live from NYSE)	covers the close of the trading day and real-time market coverage	European Closing Bell	Worldwide Exchange
5p-6p	Fast Money (re-airs at 8pm)	Dylan Ratigan	fast-paced roundtable discussion of stocks for short-term trades
6p-7p	Mad Money	Jim Cramer	a fast-paced show offering stock advice to callers
7p-8p	Kudlow & Company	Lawrence Kudlow	provides market, economic and political commentary and interviews

A Squawk Box outside broadcast, hosted by Rebecca Quick.

CNBC has experimented with non-business programming during primetime hours with a mixed record of success. CNBC's primetime lineup features The Big Idea With Donny Deutsch and the channel has rebroadcast several NBC programs, including Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Deal or No Deal, The Apprentice, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, and 1 vs. 100. Prior to 2006-04-20, the programs in the primetime hours were shown with a 'scroll' with news headlines and weather updates at the bottom of the screen. Paid Programs are typically aired from 2am to 4am ET and mostly all day long on the weekends.

Currently in primetime, the network re-airs the NBC programs The Apprentice, Deal or No Deal and 1 vs. 100 along with its own CNBC Prime, Mike on the Money, and CNBC produced documentaries.

On January 24, 2007, the network launched its long-anticipated monthly newsmagazine called Business Nation, which is anchored by award-winning journalist David Faber. The program covers three stories a month, a mixture of profiles, investigative pieces and features. The format of the newsmagazine is structured similarly to HBO's Real Sports.

The newsroom at CNBC's NJ HQ

CNBC's breakout hit among its original series is Mad Money. Hosted by money manager Jim Cramer, the hour-long show gives stock advice to viewers who call to the program. The show also has a popular segment called "The Lightning Round". In August 2007, Cramer's on-air tirade about the weakening economy, which was seen during the "Stop Trading" segment on Street Signs, received national attention and helped galvanize widespread support for the Federal Reserve Board to cut interest rates.

Other special or weekend programming includes CNBC on Assignment (for example, The Age of Wal-Mart), Cover to Cover, The Suze Orman Show, and The Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo.

Past shows

Among the shows that have been canceled are:

Weekly, weekend and other programming

• National Geographic Explorer (moved to MSNBC and then to the National Geographic Channel)
• Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street (ended its run on New Year's Eve 2004 at Louis Rukeyser's request)
• Market Week with Maria Bartiromo (renamed After Hours with Maria Bartiromo and then Special Report with Maria Bartiromo -- cancelled in 2004)
• Tim Russert (moved to MSNBC)
• American Le Mans Series races (inaugural 1999 season only, as part of agreement with NBC Sports)
• PGA Champions Tour

Management Today How to Succeed in Business Strictly Business Weekly Business Inside America's Courts CNet News.com Ushuaia

Weekend Squawk Box Topic [A] with Tina Brown World Business Reports Consumer News Smart Money Media Biz

Business Wrapup Business View Media Beat Your Portfolio Money Talk Money Shack Money Today

Opinions McLaughlin Real Story Real Life Real Personal The Dick Cavett Show Tom Snyder Outside the Box

Personalities and coverage

CNBC Silicon Valley bureau chief Jim Goldman on assignment at the Palo Alto Apple Store.

The TV studio at the NASDAQ MarketSite, where CNBC's market updates and the show Fast Money are hosted.

an inside look of CNBC NJ HQ

an inside look of CNBC NJ HQ

an inside look of CNBC NJ HQ

Main article: List of CNBC personalities

Much of CNBC's on-air talent has been with the network for some time: Sue Herera and Scott Cohn joined CNBC at its inception, and remain on the air co-hosting Power Lunch and as senior correspondent respectively. Some personalities who joined CNBC from FNN in 1991, such as Ron Insana, Bill Griffeth and Joe Kernen, are also still with the channel. The network has of late sought to increase the profile of its on-air team with the launch of rival business station Fox Business Network - although CNBC's best known personality, Closing Bell host Maria Bartiromo, has for some time made regular appearances on other NBC News broadcasts such as The Today Show as well as anchoring the syndicated Wall Street Journal Report, other CNBC hosts such as Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett have also been used increasingly across NBC's output.

In addition to its roster of program anchors, CNBC employs a team of reporters who contribute across the network's business day programming, the majority of whom are based at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs. In addition, CNBC has staff permanently based at bureaux in Midtown Manhattan, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and San Jose (the latter referred to on air as "CNBC Silicon Valley"). Cost-cutting at NBC Universal's news divisions has seen some of these offices merged with those of NBC owned-and-operated stations: the Silicon Valley facility was moved from Palo Alto to the KNTV (NBC 11) newsroom in San Jose in January 2007 (occasionally KNTV reporters Scott Budman and Scott McGrew will now correspond for CNBC), while the Chicago bureau now shares a home with WMAQ (NBC 5). The network also has reporters posted at the New York Stock Exchange (where CNBC also has a set used for broadcasting Squawk on the Street, The Call and Closing Bell), NASDAQ MarketSite, NYMEX and the Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange each day.

Ratings

CNBC has had a difficult time as of late attracting viewers, although viewership is significantly up from the 2005 bottom. There is a fairly clear correlation between the markets' performance and CNBC's viewership. However, CNBC is watched by the largest group of successful business leaders in America.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, CNBC's ratings were increasing sharply along with the stock market. In fact, CNBC often beat CNN during the daytime. In 2000, daytime viewership at the network peaked at 343,000, around the time the Nasdaq Composite crossed 5000. However, when the dot-com bubble began to burst later that year, CNBC's viewing figures declined in tandem. The network's ratings steadily fell quarter after quarter, year after year, until bottoming in Q1 2005, with an average viewership of 134,000 during the day. From the bottom, the network, along with the markets, have rebounded significantly -- average daytime viewership (6 am to 6 pm) now stands at around 278,000 (as of the third quarter of 2007). Even though that pales in comparison to what Fox News and CNN draw in today, it is still a very healthy 107% increase in viewership since the beginning of 2005. Despite the viewership slump since the turn of the decade, CNBC is extremely profitable: average revenues top $510 million while profits for the network exceed $250 million per year, making CNBC a cash cow for NBC Universal and its parent company, General Electric. While daytime viewership has held up reasonably well, primetime viewership is still relatively weak and the network continues to try and rejuvenate their primetime lineup. Along with developing new program formats such as Fast Money and Mad Money, the network operates a "checkerboard" programming approach, airing various genres of shows including documentaries, town-hall style discussions and repeats of some NBC output.

When discussing the network's ratings, CNBC management and press releases regularly suggest that considerable viewership, particularly during the daytime, is done "out of home" in places such as offices and hotel rooms. As this demographic is not covered by Nielsen Media Research ratings, CNBC claims that the network's true viewership is considerably higher than what is measured.

On-air presentation

CNBC graphics

CNBC is well known today for its flashy and ostentatious graphics package, complete with accompanying animations and animation-sounds. Previous graphics packages put together by the network since the early 90's have gradually increased the "wow" factor -- likely in order to catch a casual viewer's eye, as cable news competition has increased dramatically since the late 80's (when the network was launched).

File:2007.08.24 - CNBC US Countdown Clock.jpg

The countdown clock used on CNBC's Closing Bell since 2007-07-27

On 2006-11-15, CNBC's 'crystal' gray logo bug was changed to color revealing the rainbow's peacock's normal NBC colors. On 2006-11-28, the new smaller CNBC color bug (similar to the one used in the revamped ticker) began to show up on CNBC's non-business related primetime programming (where the ticker is not shown, except Mad Money and Fast Money), replacing the much bigger 'crystal' bug.

On 2007-03-01, CNBC's Squawk on the Street and Closing Bell both started using a new countdown clock (shown in minutes:seconds:tenths-of-a-second format) on the graphics' lower-third of the screen. On 2007-07-27, it moved to the lower right of the screen, where the CNBC color bug is usually seen. The countdown clock is used for the "Opening Bell Countdown" segment on Squawk on the Street, and for the "Closing Countdown" segment on Closing Bell.

On 2007-05-02, CNBC's Mad Money revamped its own on-air graphics package, replacing what was used -- including its opening animation sequence -- since the program's 2005-03-14 debut.

In November 2007, the CNBC color bug in the ticker on the lower right of the screen started rotating (and morphing) between the network logo and the CNBC.com logo and back. This is seen only during the network's "Business Day" programming.

First generation graphic

File:CNBC 1989.JPG

Used from 1989-04-17 to 1994-12-31. The bottom band of the ticker displayed various indices (such as the Value Line Arithmetic Index, shown). The network did not have a live bug tracking the various indices, nor did they have their logo fixed on the screen. Instead, camera shots of the anchors at the main desk were positioned in a way to show the "CNBC" lettering at all possible times.

The studio in the picture, right, is located in the original Fort Lee, New Jersey building. This was later completely rebuilt as part of changes introduced by the network's then president Roger Ailes.

1995 revamp

File:CNBC oldgraphics1.jpg

Used from 1995-01-01 to 1997-12-31.

1998 revamp

File:Mariabartiromo squawkbox3.jpg

This was used from January 1998 to May 1999. Majority of the lower-thirds and the live bug was coloured blue with the left side of the lower thirds and upper part of the live bug coloured red. The background for its charts was animated with majority of the background being blue and a narrow green strip running at the right side of the screen resembling a stock ticker. When the major maker indexes hit a new record, the green strip is tweaked to reflect "DOW RECORD", "S&P RECORD" or "NASDAQ RECORD." It is also tweaked during the holiday season. (Note: The image rightward doesn't contain the ticker part.)

1999 revamp: "Red" turns "Green"

File:CNBC graphics 1999-2000.jpg

The 1998 graphics scheme was slightly tweaked in May 1999 where the once red parts of the lower thirds (seen on the left of the blue strip of the lower thirds) and the "LIVE" bug's upper part turned green. The font was also modified. The green strip at this time is also tweaked during earnings season. Graphs also started having the CNBC logo was behind them and included grids. On 3 April 2000, CNBC Asia has used this scheme only for its charts but a month later CNBC Europe used it for its charts and lower thirds as well. This package was in place until 29 September 2000 on CNBC, until 31 December 2000 on CNBC Asia and until mid-January 2001 on CNBC Europe. Show titles however remained the same as the 1998 package.

2000 revamp

File:CNBC1.jpg

Used from 2000-10-02 to 2002-09-13. In January 2001, CNBC Asia and CNBC Europe both followed up to use the same graphic package, making some changes to the lower thirds and the charts respectively (for example, removing the animation on and off screen). This marked the first time that the three main CNBC channels had used the same graphics scheme in their entirety for all daytime shows. In February 2002 however, while most programme titles largely remained the same on the CNBC US channel, 2 new shows, Morning Call and Closing Bell used the titles which were originally for Street Signs and Market Watch respectively (the latter two were cancelled at the same period as well).

2002 revamp

File:Cnbc 1 f.jpg

Used from 16 September 2002 to 10 October 2003. This package saw an evolution of the graphics introduced in 2000, with program titles and chart formats remaining the same. The lower thirds were, however, completely revamped with the lower half of it coloured red and text was centre-justified, and a new background animation and colour scheme was introduced for charts and other on-screen data. The font was also tweaked. The titles in the lower thirds were centre-justified. CNBC Asia used a similar lower thirds effective 2 January 2003 except that the lower thirds was entirely light blue and the text was still aligned to the left. CNBC Europe adopted the same chart backgrounds in use by CNBC US later in 2003 as well but used a different lower-thirds.

2003 revamp

File:Cnbc.jpg

Used from 2003-10-13 to 2005-12-16. In this revamp, CNBC added an independent space to the lower thirds to show the "topic title" to indicate the subject being discussed (i.e. "money to burn" in the rightward photo). This formerly shared space with the program logo on the left-hand side of the lower thirds.

CNBC also added another animation to the lower thirds: when showing stock charts, the lower thirds would move down vertically, keeping just the "topic title" visible above the ticker. When charts were removed from the screen, the whole lower thirds would move vertically up again.

The "LIVE" sign was also moved from the left-top corner to the right-top corner, along with the location (which was formerly included on the lower thirds) at this time.

CNBC Asia adopted this graphics scheme in 2004 but on CNBC Europe's next graphics revamp in the same year, it chose to create its own graphics scheme for charts, lower-thirds and titles.

Dec. 2005 revamp: From 2D to 3D

File:CNBC-ticker-2006.jpg

Used from 2005-12-19 to 2006-05-12. On 2005-12-19, CNBC unveiled a new on-air look, replacing that which had been used since October 2003. This included a new look for all the graphics, new logos for all business day programs, and the relocation of the index and commodity prices from the stacked bug in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen to the bug bar across the top of the screen.

Since then, the ticker has shown full company names (and full commodity names used in the commodity summary, which runs at the 1s of each hour) instead of just ticker symbols.

The "LIVE" and location graphics were moved back to the top-left of the screen from the top-right corner at this time.

This graphic package was created by Randy Pyburn of Pyburn Films (that also designed the WNBC's 2003 graphic package) and also designed earlier CNBC graphic packages. The estimated cost of the 2005-2006 package was about $2,000,000.

Mid 2006: revamped bug and lower thirds

File:LatestCNBCtweak.jpg

• On 2006-05-15, CNBC made a slight change to its lower thirds, adding a blue block to the right-hand side. Occasionally this space was used to display the title of the topic being discussed. This format was abandoned on 2006-12-18.

• On 2006-09-06, CNBC unveiled a revamped bug, which now has a similar resemblance to that of CNBC Europe. On the same day, the network launched a slightly modified ticker with a narrower font (to allow more quotes to stream by within a period of time). CNBC Asia adopted a revamped bug of its own on 2007-03-26 as part of its graphics package revamp.

Dec. 2006: new lower thirds

File:Cnbcgfx3.jpg

Used from 2006-12-19 to present. On 2006-12-19, exactly one year after its relaunch, CNBC revamped its on-air graphics package, replacing the old lower thirds that were previously used from 12/19/2005-12/18/2006. The current graphic package was created in house.

In this revamp, CNBC cancelled the independent space for the "topic title", which once again shares space with the program logo on the left-hand side of the lower thirds.

CNBC Asia adopted the similar lower thirds on 2007-03-26, but unlike its US version, the "topic title" does not share the space with the program logo. Its European sibling (CNBC Europe) finally debuted its own lower thirds on 2008-01-07, and like its US version, the "topic title" shares space with the program logo on the left-hand side. This marked the second time -- and the first since 2001 -- that all three of the network's main channels had used the same graphics scheme for their daytime shows.

• On 2007-04-23, the data bug was slightly tweaked, with the titles of the securities now displayed in yellow and the numbers still being displayed in white.

File:2007.07.26 - CNBC US on CNBC Asia - 1600 Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo.jpg

• On 2007-07-26, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 300 points, CNBC stayed on the story and put a live shot of the trading board in the NYSE to show the status of Dow above the lower thirds during the Closing Bell to track the markets.
  • (Note: The screenshot rightward comes from CNBC Asia, so the style of the top bug and the ticker are different from the package of CNBC US.)

• On 2008-02-28, the chart was slightly tweaked, when showing session is more than two days, CNBC put up the % of the session performance, just like CNBC Europe.

CNBC Ticker

Main article: CNBC Ticker

The CNBC Ticker is a computer simulation of ticker tape shown on the lower part of the screen during the network's Business Day programming, containing security and index symbols along with movements in their value. At the top of the screen, a rotating band, partitioned into three segments, provides index and commodity prices.

History

File:CNBC oldgraphics1.jpg

CNBC Ticker, 1995 to 1997.

When CNBC first aired in 1989 until approximately 1991, the original CNBC Ticker only had one band, displaying NYSE stocks. After a 20 minute period when the ticker was off-air one day, as announced by anchor Ted David, did CNBC finally decide to include the NASDAQ in a new format at the time, creating the two-band system used ever since. FNN did use a two-line ticker design (with white and blue bands, quotes listed during trading without price changes and a market summary on the bottom band during trading) prior to the merger with CNBC in 1991, and many of these features were subsequently adopted by the newly-merged channel. Here's an example of FNN ticker circa 1987.

CNBC had another ticker format, mainly a font variation on the ticker, for a short time before the 1995-1997 photo on this page. During special events (for example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average passing 6000, 7000, etc. or another extremely impactful market event), the CNBC Ticker showed mutual funds on the NYSE band while leaving the NASDAQ band unchanged. This convention has been discontinued. In 1998, CNBC's ticker became more colourful with green indicating a stock price increase and red indicating a stock price decrease. The ticker now shows full company names (and full commodity names used in the Commodity Summary, which runs at the 1s of each hour) instead of just the ticker symbols, as seen before December 2005 but only the arrows remain coloured green or red.

Current graphic formats

File:Cnbcgfx3.jpg

Typical on-air screen appearance during the business day.

The bug bar, at the top of the screen, which stays on-screen during the business day (4am ET to 6pm ET), will give viewers a real-time snapshot of the general stock market (Dow Jones, Nasdaq S&P 500 indices and Russell 2000 index, along with the DJ Utilities, DJ Transports and NYSE indices), international markets and futures (between 4am ET and 9:30am ET only), currencies, bond prices/yields and commodities. The stock market indices, global markets, currencies, bonds, yields, and commodities are displayed in yellow, with the numbers displayed in white. This data stays on for 5-7 seconds, before refreshing to the new set of data.

The bottom two lines, called the ticker, gives viewers real-time NYSE quotes (on the top band) and Nasdaq/AMEX quotes (bottom band) throughout the trading day (ticker symbols are 1, 2, or 3 letters long for the NYSE stocks; Nasdaq uses 4- and 5-letter symbols; 3-letter ticker symbols are used at the AMEX). A commodity summary is shown on the top band during market hours (every 10 minutes at 0:01, 0:11, 0:21, 0:31, 0:41, 0:51 past the hour), along with a market summary (which is shown every 20 minutes at 0:01, 0:21, 0:41 past the hour). A Nasdaq/AMEX market summary is shown on the bottom band every 20 minutes at 0:06, 0:26, 0:46 past the hour. The ticker now also provides the size of each trade (the volume, or number of shares traded), a feature which was reinstated on July 12, 2006 after it was dumped during the re-launch in December 2005.

Also, PowerShares ETF symbols, which are traded along the lower band of the ticker, are highlighted in orange for sponsorship reasons.

Before and after-market hours (8:00am ET - 9:30am ET and 4:00pm ET - 6:30pm ET respectively), the ticker gives viewers extended hours trading quotes (after-hours quotes are symbolized with gold text). Between the hours of 5:00am ET - 8:00am ET and 6:30pm ET - 8:00pm ET, viewers are shown an alphabetical recap of the closing prices of S&P 500 stocks on the top band, while latest news headlines as well as weather projections for selected cities are displayed on the bottom band.

File:2007.07.26 - CNBC US on CNBC Asia - 1600 Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo.jpg

CNBC's "Breaking News mode" (Note: The screenshot comes from CNBC Asia, so the style of the top bug and the ticker are different from the package of CNBC US.)

Above the ticker, the left-hand side graphic will provides the logo for the specific program that is currently on-air (i.e. "MORNING CALL"). The middle block gives viewers either a caption of the topic being discussed (i.e. "MIKE HUCKMAN") or information about the correspondent on the screen. Additionally, the left block is also replaced by logos indicating general subjects (i.e. "BEHIND THE WHEEL",) or the network's "Breaking News" (red), "CNBC Alert" (green) or "CNBC Exclusive" (orange) logo when required.

Taglines

• "A Service of NBC Universal and Dow Jones" (2004-05-17 - 2005-12-31, 2007-present)
• "Fast, Accurate, Actionable, Unbiased" (2007-present)
• "America's Business Channel" (2005 or earlier - present)
• "First in Business Worldwide" (2006-06-12 - present)
• "The World Leader in Business News" (2004 - 2006-06-11)
• "Make It Your Business" (2002-2004)
• "Business for the New World" (2002)
• "Profit From It" (1998-2002)
• "First in Business, Worldwide" (1996-97)
• "First in Business, First in Talk" (1995)
• "Information that hits home." (1992-95)

Music

CNBC News Store at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

CNBC News Store at Raleigh-Durham International Airport

The music used from October 2003 to December 2005 was produced by 615 Music of Nashville, Tennessee. This theme continues as of April 2007 to be used by CNBC Europe, although CNBC Asia ceased using it in March 2007. CNBC Europe continues also to use a theme previous to this, composed by Edd Kalehoff used by CNBC US between 2000-2002, for its main channel ident. The current music package is composed by James Ryan of Rampage Music. Ryan also composed the network's 2002 music package. Willie Wilcox composed the themes for The Big Idea, Mad Money, Conversations with Michael Eisner and currently Fast Money.

CNBC's main voice-over announcer is Jim Birdsall, who has also worked for NFL Films.

Notable recent developments

• On 2006-09-18, CNBC's Worldwide Exchange program unveiled the "FTSE CNBC Global 300 Index". As the name suggests, it is an index of 300 global corporations, through 18 subsectors in conjunction with London's FTSE Group. It is supposed to aggregate the major stock market movements from the "open in Asia to the close in the US." It is updated every 15 seconds.

• On 2007-02-27, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its 7th largest loss ever, CNBC stayed on the story. Also, CNBC's news ticker at the bottom of the screen returned during a re-airing of Deal or No Deal showing updates of the loss as well as the Nasdaq's biggest loss since September 17, 2001. It also reminded viewers to go to CNBC.com to get updates on the markets in Asia provided by CNBC Asia. The 10pm and 1am ET airings of The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch were pre-empted to make way for re-airings of On The Money and Fast Money, respectively. Both shows covered the 400-point loss of the DJIA. The network recorded its best ratings week since the market crash after 9/11, with Kudlow & Company, Mad Money, and Fast Money recording their best ratings ever in the coveted 25-54 demographic.

• On 2007-03-19, Squawk Box was knocked off the air for 18 minutes due to "overwhelming technical issues". After an extended commercial break at 7:43am ET, the network simulcast MSNBC's Imus in the Morning (which was cancelled less than a month later) before returning to the air at 8am ET. Host Joe Kernen noted that in the 11 years of him doing the show, "this has never ever happened".

• On 2007-07-19, CNBC's Squawk on the Street expanded to two hours, airing weekdays from 9-11am ET. This resulted in The Call (formerly Morning Call) being reduced in duration from two hours to only one, airing weekdays from 11am-noon. That program was also completely revamped on 2007-07-23.

• On 2007-09-17, CNBC started running "CNBC.com News Now" update segments. These short bulletins, which are around 30 seconds in length (similar to ESPN's SportsCenter 30 at 30), air before the start of the network's programs from Squawk on the Street through Kudlow & Company.

• The "CNBC Investor Network" was launched on 2007-10-22 as the network set up trading floor Webcams around the U.S. [1]

• On 2007-11-05, the network's NBC peacock logo was changed to green as part of parent company GE's weeklong "Green is Universal" initiative. [2]

• On 2008-01-22, after a global market sell-off, CNBC recorded its best single day ratings since the markets re-opened after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The network averaged 642,000 viewers during market hours (9:30am - 4pm ET), and 469,000 viewers during the "business day" (which is defined by the network as 5am to 7pm). [3]

CNBC international channels

Wake Up Call broadcast from Nasdaq

Fast Money also broadcast from Nasdaq

CNBC has operated international versions of its channel since 1995, when CNBC Asia originally launched. CNBC Europe followed in 1996. On 1997-12-09, Dow Jones & Company and NBC announced the merger of their international business news channels. This resulted in a merger of CNBC Europe with Dow Jones' European Business News, and likewise of CNBC Asia with Asia Business News. From then (until January 2006) the international CNBC services carried the tagline "A Service of NBC (Universal) and Dow Jones" (or depending on other local partners, a variation of this tagline). Correspondents from Dow Jones Newswires contribute to the channels. CNBC Europe is headquartered in London, and CNBC Asia is headquartered in Singapore. On 2005-12-31, the sale by Dow Jones of its interests in the international CNBC channels took effect. From 2006-01-01, the "A Service of NBC Universal and Dow Jones" tagline was removed from the international CNBC channels, in line with this.

Besides CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia, the network also operates a number of local business news channels in association with other companies. These channels include Class CNBC in Italy, CNBC-e in Turkey, CNBC Arabiya in the UAE, Nikkei CNBC in Japan, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz in India, CNBC Pakistan in Pakistan and TVN CNBC Biznes in Poland.

CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia are rebranded in some parts of the world with tickers containing local financial information. Examples include CNBC Nordic, CNBC Singapore, CNBC Hong Kong and CNBC Australia.

In North America, CNBC World airs business programming from CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia, as well as weekly magazine programs provided by CNBC-TV18 and the United Nations.

In Central America and the Caribbean, CNBC Latin America retransmits live programs from CNBC and CNBC World.

In Canada, CNBC can be seen with most of the programming identical to the US counterpart. However, due to Canadian programming rights, the 9pm slot which shows television programming such as the Olympic Games, Deal Or No Deal, The Apprentice, 1 vs. 100 and Heads Up Poker are replaced by CNBC World programming. However, documentaries are shown in Canada. This had the making of a major problem, as a highlight episode of The Apprentice 5 that aired April 23, 2006, was assumed to not be available anywhere for Canadians due to these blackouts. While the first airing at 9:00pm ET was blacked out, the second airing at 12:00am ET was accidentally shown. Blackouts on episodes that originally air on NBC and Global are likely to continue. However, occasionally, the television shows are shown and are not blacked out, possibly due to a mistake in transmission.

CNBC's most recent international spinoff is CNBC Africa. With roughly $600 million spent on advertising in South Africa alone, the network sees great potential in grabbing a potential share of that pot. Initially, CNBC Africa has bureaus in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa and produces 9 hours of local programming per business day. The network was launched on 2007-06-01.

CNBC.com

CNBC.com is the companion website to the financial network. It was launched in 1996 with minimal content, other than show program grids, host biographies and basic network images (on the internet, business news then was handled by the website of CNBC's sister channel, MSNBC). The site gradually progressed alongside internet technology, giving investors more useful information such as stock quotes, news bulletins, in-depth programming information and a whole host of other data.

File:Cnbc 1996.JPG

CNBC.com - 1996

In August 2001, CNBC.com merged with MSN's Moneycentral.com, creating "CNBC on MSN". This new partnership allowed the two parties to meet two objectives: 1) provide richer content to visitors, with expanded news offerings, a wider array of stock tools (including interactive charting, free online portfolio managers) plus more in-depth market coverage and 2) more effectively compete with other finance related websites, such as Marketwatch.com and Yahoo! Finance.

During this period the editorial content on the CNBC.com site was controlled by Microsoft Corporation. CNBC.com officially disbanded its relationship with MSN in mid-November 2006.

File:Cnbc 2000.JPG

CNBC.com - 2000

CNBC.com was relaunched on 2006-12-04. The website provides new online tools for investors and better integration of the website with daytime programming. Some of the new features include:

• exclusive online interviews (the first being with Chicago Fed President Michael Moskow)
• live market updates from CNBC personalities 3 times per day during the trading day (discontinuing the "Market in a Minute" updates in June 2007)
• a streaming desktop ticker, real-time data and the network's "tick-by-tick" charts (for major indices)
• themed blogs by various correspondents (i.e. "Tech Check" with tech reporter Jim Goldman)
• unedited, full-length interviews from CNBC specials or other on-air interviews
• free video of recent on-air segments, interviews, features etc.
• an exclusive "CNBC.com" set built at CNBC's U.S. headquarters where the market update segments (among other things) are taped from
• blogging from on-air personalities about the various "goings-on" within the network
• an original show to air exclusively online with Maria Bartiromo, Bill Griffeth and Joe Kernen (yet to debut)
• top-of-the-hour summary of business news entitled CNBC.com News Now which is also seen during the trading day on CNBC TV.

Content on the new website is edited 24 hours a day during the business week. CNBC U.S. updates the content from 6 a.m to 7 p.m ET, CNBC Asia then takes over from 7 p.m to 2 a.m, and CNBC Europe handles the (North American) overnight hours from 2 a.m to 6 a.m.

In April 2007, the site was able to attract 662,000 unique visitors to the website, ranking it #22 amongst all financial news websites.

CNBCplus

CNBC's SNG

"CNBCplus" is a subscription-based service (similar to the now-defunct CNN Pipeline) which allows users to have 24-hour, commercial-free access to 3 individual CNBC feeds -- CNBC U.S., CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia -- along with access to an archive of over 40,000 VOD clips, updated with up to 200 clips daily. It also offers a search feature allowing the user to find video clips using keywords. The service is available to PC Windows users running Internet Explorer 6.x or 7.x. The CNBC U.S. stream offers most television broadcast programming, including the popular shows, Mad Money and Fast Money.

Since its inception, the service has offered a free seven-day trial for people who register. After that, individuals who register will be required to pay a monthly fee to continue their subscription. The 'introductory offer' (still in effect) is $9.95 per month, although the fee will eventually go up to $14.95/month.

"Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge"

CNBC.com's Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge, a virtual stock-picking contest, ran from 2007-03-05 to 2007-05-25. CNBC hosted a similar contest the previous year, called the Squawk Box Fantasy Portfolio Challenge.

Contest "Multiple Accounts" controversy

The Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge, which was sponsored by OptionsXpress, became embroiled in controversy after just its first week when it was revealed that one participant, Nancy Beaumont from California, registered 800 separate portfolios in the contest, exponentially increasing her probability of winning the $1,000,000 first prize, and leading to her occupying no fewer than nine places in the Top 25 Leader Board.

The express terms of the Rules, however, provide in material part:

Description of the Contest:

The contest is a stock trading game that provides Participants with a fictional trading account, One Million (1,000,000) fictional dollars ("CNBC Bucks") and the fictional ability to trade individual stocks on the NYSE, NASDAQ and/or AMEX exchanges.

The Rules further state:

Trading:

Each participant begins the Contest with One Million (1,000,000) CNBC Bucks to create a fictional portfolio of the NYSE, NASDAQ and/or AMEX-traded stocks.

...

Each participant can make a maximum of fifty (50) trades per Day, based on the time the trade is entered by the Participant.

As a result of Nancy Beaumont's registration of 800 accounts, therefore, she has $800,000,000 CNBC Bucks available to her in the contest, spread over 800 separate accounts, and the ability to make a total of 40,000 trades per day. Other participants who registered one account per the express terms of the Rules, by comparison, have $1,000,000 CNBC Bucks available to them and can only make 50 trades per day. As a result, the probability of Nancy Beaumont winning the contest is dramatically skewed in her favor.

After hours trading controversy

A June 8, 2007 BusinessWeek article entitled CNBC's Easy Money detailed another massive flaw in the network's fantasy portfolio challenge. Traders were able to open their browsers, enter various stocks into the trading module, but execute the trade after hours (assuming the browser and module were still open). This allowed traders to profit off of after-hour market movements in stocks that, for example, reported better than expected earnings.

CNBC issued a statement on the same day on their website, stating the network was "investigating whether one or more finalists wrote and executed computer program scripts to bypass the contest’s security measures. CNBC retained two leading consultants in the information security industry to investigate these two computer programming related issues."

Winner of Portfolio Challenge

After a lengthy investigation which resulted in numerous disqualifications, on July 13, 2007 CNBC announced Mary Sue Williams of St. Clairsville, Ohio as the winner of the portfolio challenge and of the $1 million cash prize.

CNBC HD+

At an upfront analyst meeting held in New York, NBC Universal announced that it would be launching CNBC in high definition (or CNBC HD+). It is expected to be an up-convert of the SD signal to HD. Unlike other HD channels, CNBC will not be putting together an additional HD feed of the channel or purchasing additional HD hardware and the associated items required to create the HD content. It was initially launched on October 10, 2007 on DirecTV, to be followed by other carriers.

File:CNBCHD+.jpg

CNBC HD+ screen layout

The network is taking a unique approach with the real estate created by broadcasting in HD. CNBC will take its existing 4:3 picture and move it to the left, as opposed to having the picture centered and having two pillar boxes on either side. This will give them the opportunity to use the right-hand side to provide viewers with various market data similar to what Bloomberg TV offers, including:

• a simultaneous view of five indices along the top (as opposed to the current three)
• wider stock ticker, which will allow for more companies to be viewed at a single time
• various pieces of content, including "Stocks to Watch", treasury data, price charts etc.

Another feature of the new on-screen layout will be streaming content from CNBC.com. This will be shown within a dedicated box located on the lower-right corner of the screen (weekdays only). This could include items such as various government hearings, press conferences or other long-form briefings. Viewers will be able to hear the audio by accessing the SAP function on their televisions.

Here's a clip of CNBC HD for example.

List of CNBC channels

CNBC Europe's headquarters in Fleet Place, London.

CNBC Pakistan HQ at night

CNBC Awaaz News Van

TVN CNBC Biznes interview

• CNBC US (the US version is also shown in Canada and The Middle East)
• CNBC Europe
  • Class CNBC - Italy
  • CNBC-e - Turkey
  • CNBC Arabiya - Arab world
  • CNBC Nordic - Scandinavia
  • TVN CNBC Biznes - Poland
• CNBC Asia
  • CNBC Pakistan - Pakistan
  • Nikkei CNBC - Japan
  • CNBC-TV18 - India (English)
  • CNBC Awaaz - India (Hindi)
  • CNBC Australia
  • CNBC Hong Kong
  • CNBC Singapore
• CNBC Latin America
• CNBC World
• CNBC Africa

See also

• List of DirecTV channels
• List of Dish Network channels
• CNBC logos

External links

• CNBC US
  • NBC Cable Networks - NBCCableinfo.com - CNBC
  • CNBC page at MSNBC.com
  • CNBC Video at MSN Money
  • CNBC weekly U.S. TV Schedule
  • CNBC Anchors and Reporters (scroll down page for list)
  • Photos of the New Jersey CNBC facility
  • CNBC: Viewer Discretion Advised (Chicago Reader article by Anthony DeBartolo)[4]
• CNBC Europe
• CNBC Pakistan
• CNBC-e Turkey
• CNBC Arabiya
• CNBC Asia
• CNBC-TV18 (India)
• Class CNBC
• Nikkei CNBC