Fast Money (CNBC)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fast Money | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | talk show, investment / trading |
| Starring | Dylan Ratigan (host) Eric Bolling Jeff Macke Tim Strazzini Guy Adami |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CNBC |
| Original run | June 21, 2006 – present |
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. Originally airing as a weekly (and later, a periodical) series, this program spun-off from a weekly segment that first aired in the May 2006 episodes of On the Money, which Ratigan previously hosted until January 8, 2007 (coincidentally the same night Fast Money re-debuted as a nightly series), when Melissa Francis took over the hosting duties for OTM.
Fast Money is broadcast live from the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City every weeknight at 8pm ET on CNBC.
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 ("The Commissioner") 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.
Also, when Ratigan is not available, substitute hosts are used in his place. Fill-ins include Melissa Francis ("The Empress"), Becky Quick ("The Contessa"), and Erin Burnett ("The Heiress").
[edit] Segments
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 Top 3: Ratigan and his panel zero in on the top three news stories of the day than can make you money.
- 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).
- Word On The Street: "Best money making chatter behind the scenes"; involves in depth discussion on the various stocks that have made recent news.
- Street Fight: CNBC contributor, Herb Greenberg, takes on the 4 panelists and challenges one of the stock picks each panelist has recommended, Ratigan picks a winner after each "fight" by siding with the views of the panelist or Herb Greenberg.
- 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).
- Face 2 Face: A viewer, via Webcam, asks a question about a specific stock to Ratigan and his panel.
- Final Trade: The final segment of the show in which Ratigan and his panel reveal what your first move should be the next morning.
[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 disastrous 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] New Timeslot: 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). 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. 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 2006 airings.
On January 3, 2007, CNBC announced that it had made a decision as to where to place this program on the daily schedule. The show re-debuted as a nightly television series as it returned in its new 8pm ET time-slot on Monday, January 8, 2007.
[edit] Special Editions of "Fast Money"
On February 27, 2007, a special edition of Fast Money, which covered that day's 416-point plunge on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, aired. It was rebroadcast at 1am ET, pre-empting that night's scheduled airing of The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.
On March 2, 2007, another special edition of Fast Money aired. This time, it was a look back at Wall Street's worst week in nearly 4 1/2 years. Erin Burnett was the guest moderator of that episode (Dylan Ratigan was on assignment in Washington, DC when it aired).
[edit] See also
- Mad Money (a CNBC US program with a similar format)
- On the Money
[edit] References
- Jensen, Elizabeth. "The Brashness Is Back in Money Talk, and Also at CNBC", The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 2006-10-02. Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
- CNBC (2007-01-03). “Fast Money” To Join Primetime Lineup Monday, January 8th at 8pm. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
[edit] External Links
| CNBC US Weekdays edit |
ET | 4a | 6a | 9a | 10a | 12p | 2p | 3p | 5p | 6p | 7p | 8p |
| Program | Worldwide Exchange |
Squawk Box |
Squawk on the Street |
Morning Call |
Power Lunch |
Street Signs |
Closing Bell |
Kudlow & Company |
Mad Money |
On the Money |
Fast Money |
