Fast Money (CNBC)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| ET | Program |
|---|---|
| 4 AM | Worldwide Exchange |
| 6 AM | Squawk Box |
| 9 AM | Squawk on the Street |
| 10 AM | Morning Call |
| Noon | Power Lunch |
| 2 PM | Street Signs |
| 3 PM | Closing Bell |
| 5 PM | Kudlow & Company |
| 6 PM | Mad Money |
| 7 PM | On the Money |
| TBD | Fast Money |
Fast Money (usually referred to as "Fast Money with Dylan Ratigan") is an American business television program hosted by Dylan Ratigan that began airing on the CNBC cable/satellite TV channel on June 21, 2006. This program spun-off from a weekly segment that first aired in the May 2006 episodes of On the Money, which Ratigan also hosts.
After the success of Mad Money, CNBC looked to replicate that success with another program with a similar format. The program was created by Susan Krakower, V.P. of Starategic Programming & Development, and producer Dan Hoffman, the same individuals responsible for the development of Mad Money.
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[edit] Program Format
The program is "moderated" by Dylan Ratigan and he is joined by 4 professional Wall Street traders: Eric Bolling (known as "The Admiral"), Jeff Macke ("The Lone Wolf"), Tim Strazzini ("The Risk Doctor") and Guy Adami ("The Negotiator"). The five are collectively known as the "Fast Money Five". Essentially, the 5 discuss various investment strategies and debate the merits of each other's arguments for or against a particular stock or sector. The program is known to tackle more complex financial items, such as options and technical analysis (usually done by Bolling) that other CNBC programming tends to shy away from.
The show has several distinct segments, including (but not limited to):
- Page Two: An in-depth discussion of some of the main business related stories of the day
- The Takedown: When one panelist disagrees with the other over a certain issue or comment
- Trade School: If a member of the panel uses Wall Street jargon, Ratigan will decipher it for viewers (with an accompanying definition)
- Fast Fire: Panelists are held accountable for their past bad picks and are confronted on-air
- Stocks on Sale: Panelists ask Ratigan whether or not a stock that is mentioned is on sale (very similar to the Lightning Round on Mad Money)
[edit] The Future of CNBC?
After the initial success of Jim Cramer's Mad Money, network executives decided to look at expanding the concept across new programming. With the explosion of finance and finance related websites and competing financial television programming, CNBC has realized that it needs to diversify its programming offerings and move away from their standard "present the info" format. While this format has served CNBC well (and continues to do so during the "business day"), primetime has been a large black mark on the network's profile. Past primetime ventures, including airing repeats of Conan O'Brien's late-night show, Dennis Miller and McEnroe's disasterous entry into the talk show world, have left the network without a coherent primetime schedule. It is hoped that this program, along with Mad Money, will help the network move out of the ratings basement during the evening hours.
This program, along with Mad Money, allows the network to try a new programming strategy: focus on the daytraders and professional traders, rather than the "buy and hold" viewers. One common thread between Mad Money and Fast Money is the "get rich quick" element to them -- the programs are trying to provide viewers with stock picks that will make them money within a short time frame.
[edit] Timeslot: 5pm or 8pm?
Fast Money's first 13 episodes (including one live audience broadcast) aired during the summer of 2006 in the Wednesday 8pm ET timeslot. Ratings were relatively low, with the program averaging a bit over 110,000 viewers per week. During the week of September 18, the program tried a new timeslot at 5pm ET, the plush timeslot with highly rated Closing Bell serving as the lead-out (bumping Kudlow & Company to 8pm for the week). Here the show flourished, nearly doubling its viewership average to 211,000 viewers (on-par with what K&C normally gets).
At this point, network execs have not yet made a decision as to where to place this program on the daily schedule, although it will eventually become a nightly staple of the network. There are numerous considerations to make in regards to where to place this program on the schedule:
- The 5pm ET timeslot, while successful, bumped Kudlow & Company to 8pm. This brought the show's ratings down substantially compared to where they were before the temporary move. While having a successful program at 5pm with Fast Money, CNBC might have to once again deal with the same headache if Kudlow & Company continues to underperform in the 8pm timeslot. The upside of moving the show to 5pm is that it would serve as a more compatiable lead-in to Mad Money.
- The 8pm timeslot does not seem to be a good fit for the program. After its successful 5pm test run during the week of September 18, CNBC retried the program again at 8pm the week after. CNBC had hoped it may have gained some traction after the increased viewership from the week prior. The show did not. Ratings were roughly on-par with the summer '06 airings.
- The network may try the 7pm ET timeslot, although current occupant On the Money has finally gained some ratings momentum and the network may not want to mess with that for the time being.
CNBC is still trying to find a suitable timeslot for this program. The show will return in January 2007.
