Fast Money to 5:00 pm; Kudlow & Co. to 7:00pm

In case you missed this announcement last night, The Big Picture broke the news about some CNBC programming changes.

Starting October 10th, Kudlow & Company moves to 7:00pm. That will allow the first half of the show to be economic/stock focused, and put the political/policy half of the show closer to Prime Time.

At the same Time, Fast Money moves to 5:00 pm: Its a more trading oriented show, and their audience is still sitting at the desks and turrets wrapping up the day.

With this shift, they are doing something that I have long been
advocating for: Moving some shows around so as to better match up the
content with the most suitable time slot and appropriate audiences.

Given the coming competition from Fox, this makes sense to me. Fast money has become the premiere CNBC show, with ratings that are still rising. Mad Money, though still getting respectable numbers, has slid considerably. And the move to 7:00pm frees up Kudlow & Co. to become a more pundit/policy wonk type of show.

expect to see more tinkering with the CNBC line up in the coming weeks . . .

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  1. Eclectic commented on Sep 28

    30 minutes of econo-punditry at that hour will be perfect… even better than now.

    Unfortunately, I won’t watch even one minute of the second half if it’s politics.

    Sorry, Larry… but unless you’ve got Godzilla mud wrestling with the 50-ft woman, nek-ked, for the political segment, I’ll be saying adios at half-time.

  2. Eclectic commented on Sep 28

    I notice you’ve featured Galbraith’s “Great Crash”:

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140136096/thebigpictu09-20

    I recommend the book highly. It will simply stun the reader with its presentation of events, shams, cons, optimistic willfulness and hyperbole that reads just like it happened yesterday… but mostly with Galbraith’s profound ability to capture and preserve Big Mouth Bombastic eloquence spoken during that bygone era, in a degree indeed unequaled until once more today.

    You’ll think you’re reading today’s newspapers… and you may end up dreading reading tomorrow’s.

  3. Leisa commented on Sep 28

    Geez, Barry, when are they going to give YOU a show? Kudlow is such a buffoon and a bore, and he does not offer a great venue for your talent. I’d think better of LK if he allowed his guests to speak (and he has terrific guests) and stopped being so mono-line in his views. Free market capitalism has offered up a lot of well-documented misery (sweat shops, unsafe working conditions to name just two). So breathless defense of it day in and day out gets tiresome.

  4. NJ commented on Sep 28

    I seriously doubt Fox will be able to compete with CNBC or Bloomberg when it comes to business television. CNBC has knowledgable entertainers and Bloomberg offers very informative material without the bullshit. If Fox’s business channel is anything like the 2 hour business block on Saturday mornings I would be shocked if their foray into business news will last even a year.

  5. OldVet commented on Sep 28

    Speaking of CNBC, I watch CNBCWorld channel more than CNBC, and try to catch “Foreign Exchange” every morning. The segments from Asia in the evening are quite informative, too. Much better than any of the crap we’re likely to see on any FOX network, whose lineup of hucksters and rabid rightwingers is simply too much to watch on Saturday mornings.

  6. matt m. commented on Sep 28

    That Sat. morning Fox programming is a joke…. feel like I’m at a used car dealership. That said, I haven’t watched CNBC for years. Bloomberg is much better programming…especially from 6am to the open.

  7. Mike G. commented on Sep 28

    I echo the fear that a FBC will be a 24 hour version of their supposedly popular Saturday morning lineup. I also agree that the CNBC Foreign Exchange show is very good, it’s more Bloomberg-like. Some repetitive news mixed in with breaking news over the hour but frequent guest interviews. I would hope FBC would be more like that than the Saturday line-up but I’m pretty sure I’ll be disappointed in that hope.

    As for LK, I like him and most of his views but I do wish he’s just ask the question once and get off the soap box to listen to the guest actually answer the question! I think a mistake his show makes even more than most is to have too many talking heads in the screen at once. I’ve seen as many as six little squares on that screen all trying to get their 20 seconds in during the 5 minute segment. Not informative Larry. It’s like The View on testosterone.

  8. GerryL commented on Sep 28

    CNBC has tried other political shows in prime time. All of them have failed. I suspect Kudlow will do the same.

  9. Mike G. commented on Sep 28

    I don’t know. Kudlow’s political coverage is limited to the politics and money aspect. Tax hikes vs tax cuts; blind Free Trade vs. anything else (aka “protectionism” in Kudlowspeak); US/World monetary policy. I can see where his might be different enough to make it for a niche audience, particularly if one half of the show is on the markets.

    I think the first half should be on the politics and “big picture” (although I am CERTAIN they won’t use that term Barry!) and the second half should be “given the big picture just discussed, let’s talk stocks…”

  10. susan commented on Sep 28

    s miok Says:

    September 25th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
    Be careful.

    Scottrade does not allow any Money Market accounts -AND- does CD at 10K +.

    So much for taking care of the small investor.

    Please correct this set of statmenets, if I am wrong. Thanks.

    Raymond Says:

    September 26th, 2007 at 12:34 am
    You’re correct about both. Scottrade offers no money market fund option and their CD min is $10,000. The rate they offer on their interest bearing cash account is also pretty low. If you stockpile your cash, I’d suggest moving it elsewhere. Scottrade must be profiting quite well from their cash accounts. Too bad most people don’t know better.

  11. mr clean+corky=jeff macke commented on Sep 28

    thx for the update BR, i’ll have my chrome dome shined up and my epileptic, stevie wonder, side to side, stammering moves rehearsed for the earlier new time slot-

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