Monthly Archives: June 2010
Concern about CNBC’s “Fast Money” ratings
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Scott Rubin of Benzinga.com writes Wednesday about the dramatic drop in ratings at CNBC‘s “Fast Money” show.
Rubin writes, “CNBC’s post-market show, Fast Money, has seen its ratings decline precipitously on a year over year basis. As ZeroHedge has noted, 2Q 2020 is down 28% in the key 25-54 age demographic compared to 2Q 2009. Comprehensive viewership has declined by 7% yr/yr.
“Insiders have told Benzinga that the deterioration in ratings has executives at NBC concerned, especially following rumors that Comcast may put CNBC on the block once it completes its buyout of NBC Universal.
“According to multiple sources, CNBC executives have had several meetings to try to figure out how to fix the show and boost its ratings performance. The dismal ratings by one of the network’s flagship programs comes at the one year anniversary of Dylan Ratigan‘s move over to MSNBC. Ratigan has just received a glowing review from the New York Times.
“Ratigan was very compelling as the moderator on Fast Money and provided the show with a lot of levity. That role has been assumed by Melissa Lee. Entertaining and unpredictable personality Jeff Macke also left the show in the last year.”
Read more here.
Investor’s Business Daily considering Dallas expansion
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Investor’s Business Daily, a national business newspaper based in Los Angeles, is considering expanding to Dallas, writes Sheryl Jean of the Dallas Morning News.
Jean writes, “‘There are a number of business reasons to consider the Dallas area,’ said Kathleen A. Sherman, director of corporate and media communications for Investors Business Daily. ‘It’s extremely premature.’
“She’s not sure how many jobs it could mean for the Dallas area or what the company’s time frame is for making a decision. The newspaper operates bureaus in other major cities, such as New York and Washington, D.C.
“Entrepreneur and stockbroker William O’Neil, who was born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas, founded the newspaper in 1984 to compete with The Wall Street Journal . A Southern Methodist University alumnus, O’Neil’s name graces the school’s Center for Global Markets and Freedom, which opened in 2008 with a gift from O’Neil and his wife Fay; a chair in business journalism; and a business journalism lecture series.”
Read more here.
How Reuters Insider is being promoted: Stealth with “Chart Karate”
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A Reuters editorial staffer sent Talking Biz News the following video, which looks like some kind of stealth marketing campaign extolling the virtues of video over charts.
With the Reuters Insider branding and the Thomson Reuters copyright at the bottom of this page, it appears to be just that.
Bloomberg Radio reaches syndication deal for Businessweek shows
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Bloomberg Radio and United Stations Radio Networks announced Wednesday that Bloomberg Businessweek‘s radio programming will now be nationally syndicated.
The new Bloomberg Businessweek radio content will expand upon existing Bloomberg Radio and United Stations Radio Networks’ current offerings to provide updates and in-depth feature programming that impact a broader business audience as well as listeners from outside the financial community interested in timely business news they can use in their everyday lives.
“We’re extremely pleased to offer this new general market business content, which includes consumer-friendly updates as well as a weekly two-hour show with news and analysis adapted for radio from the writers of Bloomberg Businessweek magazine,” said Al Mayers, station manager for Bloomberg Radio, in a statement. “The new content helps us reach a wider audience, with stories that impact not just investment professionals but listeners interested in the business community at large.”
The new content offerings for weekends and weekdays are:
-”Bloomberg Businessweek Updates,” a 60-second updates discussing the companies, personalities and emerging trends that interest business leaders and consumers around the world. “Bloomberg Businessweek Updates,” featuring editors and reporters from the magazine, are produced multiple times a day, Monday through Fridays, with additional updates available for weekend airings; and
-”Bloomberg Businessweek Radio,” a new, weekly two-hour show hosted by Bloomberg Radio veterans Ken Prewitt and Pimm Fox that focuses on Bloomberg Businessweek’s ground-breaking cover stories and the most intriguing news and content from the latest magazine. Prewitt and Fox are joined by top editors and reporters providing additional insight on their work. “Bloomberg Businessweek Radio” is presented on Friday evenings at 8 p.m. EST with additional feed times for airings throughout the weekend.
Reuters makes executive changes as part of digital push
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Thomson Reuters announced two changes to its management team as part of the transformation of Reuters into providing more content digitally.
Alisa Bowen has been appointed global head of business operations, charged with accelerating the transformation of the news agency business. For the past three years, Bowen has worked on growing and overhauling the consumer media business — redesigning Reuters.com and its global suite of websites, while developing the News Pro mobile and iPad applications.
Keith McAllister has been appointed to the expanded role of editor and publisher for consumer media, where he will oversee the editorial and commercial sides of Reuters.com and its global suite of websites, mobile and the digital signage businesses. McAllister joined Thomson Reuters in April 2009 as global editor for online.
McAllister was previously an executive vice president and managing editor at CNN.
Bloomberg names head of circulation
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Bloomberg LP announced Wednesday that it has named Alec Casey head of circulation, a newly created role.
Casey, who joins from Hearst Magazines where he served as vice president of consumer marketing, will be responsible for driving circulation at Bloomberg Businessweek and assisting in the growth of consumer facing brands through the development and execution of circulation and consumer marketing strategies. He will begin his new role on July 6 and will report to Paul Bascobert, president, Bloomberg Businessweek.
“With his strong background in driving circulation platforms and profitability in the consumer media space, Alec is the ideal candidate to lead Bloomberg Businessweek’s global consumer growth and to drive paid circulation,” said Bascobert in a statement. “We are poised for significant expansion in our global reach and influence across all our consumer businesses, and Alec’s experience will be vital to our success.”
During his tenure at Hearst Magazines, Casey oversaw consumer marketing and all aspects of circulation for a range of brands including Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Food Network Magazine (named Advertising Age’s 2009 “Launch of the Year”), SmartMoney, and Town & Country. He is credited with growing overall circulation profits and increasing direct-to-publisher new business sources.
Previously, Casey worked at Time Inc., serving as consumer marketing director at Sports Illustrated for Kids and before that, held numerous marketing roles at Sports Illustrated. He also held positions at Reader’s Digest and Booz Allen & Hamilton.
WSJ markets reporter taking buyout
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Peter McKay, a markets reporter at The Wall Street Journal, announced he’s leaving the paper to help a journalism startup.
On his blog, McKay writes, “I’m writing to let you and other contacts I’ve dealt with on behalf of the Wall Street Journal over the years know that this will be my last week at the paper. I’m leaving to co-found Roscoe Labs, a journalism startup developing a mobile-based news platform.
“I told my editors last week that I’m accepting a buyout offer the paper had on the table for several of us. It wasn’t an easy decision, obviously, because the Journal is still a very special place to work producing a daily newspaper. I thought about it long and hard, pushing the quarter-end deadline for the buyout offer a bit, as I’m wont to do with every other deadline around here. But I ultimately recognized what the right decision for me was, and now I’m excited to move on to the next big adventure.
“For intraday market news after I’m gone, it’s probably best to contact Dow Jones Newswires reporters Donna Kardos Yesalavich or Kristina Peterson. I’ve been collaborating more closely with these two in recent months and have already shared many sources with them. If you’re not among the people they’ve already contacted for their stories, be assured that they’re both top-notch reporters.”
Read more here.
More Loeb winners: Fortune and Detroit News
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Here are some more Gerald Loeb Award winners announced Tuesday night in New York:
In the magazine category, the winner is James Bandler, Nicholas Varchaver and Doris Burke of Fortune magazine for “How Bernie Did It.” The story explained Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
In the breaking news category, the winner is the Detroit News for “GM, Chrysler Nudged Toward Bankruptcy” by Christine Tierney, David Shepardson and Gordon Trowbridge.
The winner in the beat reporting category is Ralph Vartabedian and Ken Bensinger from the Los Angeles Times for “The Toyota Recall.” This entry was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
The winner in the commentary category is Joseph E. Stiglitz for “Capitalist Fools” and “Wall Street’s Toxic Message” in Vanity Fair.
Also, CNBC has swept the television categories, winning for enterprise reporting for “House of Cards.” Those who worked on the story were David Faber, Mitch Weitzner, James Jacoby, Jill Landes and Patrick Ahearn.
There’s just two winners left — feature writing and large newspapers.
UPDATE: Michael Lewis wins in the feature writing category for “Wall Street on the Tundra” in Vanity Fair, while the New York Times wins its third Loeb of the night in the large newspaper category for “Food Safety” by Michael Moss and Andrew Martin.
Shut out was The Wall Street Journal, which had four finalists in three categories.
Early Loeb winners: NYT’s Sorkin and Pogue
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Andrew Ross Sorkin, who covers Wall Street and mergers and acquisitions for The New York Times, is the first winner Tuesday of a Loeb Award, considered the Pulitzer Prizes of business journalism.
Sorkin wins for his book, “Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System — and Themselves” published by Penguin Group (USA) – Viking.
Another New York Times writer, David Pogue, won in the online commentary and blogging category for his coverage of the tech industry.
The winner in the television breaking news category is Scott Cohn, Mary Thompson, Courtney Ford, Wally Griffith and Molly Mazilu for “The Madoff Scandal” on CNBC.
The winner in the news services category is Greg Gordon, Kevin G. Hall, and Chris Adams for “Goldman, Moody’s and the Collapse of the American Economy” from McClatchy Newspapers.
The winner in the personal finance category is the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Matthew Hathaway, Elizabethe Holland and Jim Gallagher for “From Prison to the Pinnacle.”
UPDATE: The winner in the small and medium newspapers category is Michael Sallah, Rob Barry and Lucy Komisar for “Keys to the Kingdom: How State Regulators Enabled a $7 Billion Ponzi Scheme” in The Miami Herald.
Remembering Chris Welles
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Marketwatch.com media columnist Jon Friedman writes Wednesday about Chris Welles, the well-known business journalist who died last week at 72.
“Why should a stranger who likely never met (or, possibly, ever heard of) Chris Welles care about his life and work? After all, thousands of people like Welles have inspired journalists in newsrooms all over the country. But what made Welles special was the set of qualities that he represented.
“He was a skilled editor who offered encouragement and guidance rather than cutting someone down for the sport of it. Above all, he was a gentleman.
“Beyond his distinguished career, Welles also serves as a symbol for a bygone era of journalism. He epitomized a period in the history of my craft when substance ruled over gossip and old-fashioned reporting meant more than ill-informed bloggers shooting their mouths off.”
Read more here.