CNBC

Eric Kallgren    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 1:14pm on Friday, May 29th, 2009

CNBC spends all day pushing paper, and all night stroking celebrities, provoking the questions, does it end with Oprah singing?

The very special CNBC one-hour special "The Oprah Effect" premiered on May 28, 2009. It is hosted by CNBC's Carl Quintanilla. The press release says:

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., May 26, 2009—She’s the queen of talk, a cultural and financial icon and her impact on business is worth billions. Oprah Winfrey is the most influential woman in America—maybe the world. Experts have a term for her unmatched and incredible ability to take companies from no names to brand names: The Oprah Effect.

On Thursday, May 28th at 9PM ET & 10PM PT, CNBC presents "The Oprah Effect," an original CNBC special hosted by CNBC's Carl Quintanilla that goes inside businesses to explain Oprah’s unparalleled impact on their bottom line, their secrets to getting on her show and how the Oprah Effect continues to translate her brand and others into big business and big dollars."

Quintanilla (who works for NBC Universal) was recently interviewed on the "Today Show" (which is owned by NBC Universal) by co-anchor Meredith Vieira (who works for NBC Universal) about "The Oprah Effect" exclusively for this News Release... and on and on and on it goes.

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 1:42pm on Monday, March 23rd, 2009

Ron Insana had an epiphany: he is much better at talking about making money than actually making money.

On March 15, 2009, the New York Times ran a blurb about the once and future financial talking head:

"Three years ago, when money flowed easily, Ronald G. Insana left CNBC to hang his own shingle as a hedge fund manager. Now, as he returns to television, he has but one misgiving about his foray into moneymaking.

“The one regret I have is we ended up losing money,” Mr. Insana said in a recent interview.

Mr. Insana recently signed a deal with CNBC to return as a part-time analyst. He will make most of his appearances on “Closing Bell,” the daily end-of-trading show from 3 to 5 p.m., and also be available for spot duty on MSNBC and various NBC News shows.

Mr. Insana’s career trajectory was viewed by some as a cautionary tale for journalists with fanciful ideas that they can do the jobs of the people they cover. Mr. Insana’s departure in 2006 for a hedge fund also was wryly referred to as a sign the market had peaked — which it kind of had."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 12:59pm on Monday, March 23rd, 2009

On March 11, 2009, Slate published an article about CNBC by Gabriel Winant, titled "Why is Jim Cramer shouting at me?"

Winant wrote:

"Since the dawn of the Obama administration, not even two months ago, CNBC has become notorious as a redoubt of talking -- no, shouting -- heads who insist that the market is tanking because the new president is an incompetent lefty. A Bolshevik even, according to Bloviator-in-Chief Jim Cramer. A squish who hands out free mortgage do-overs to "losers," according to Chicago trading-floor populist Rick Santelli. Twice in the past week, "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart has responded with blistering mash-ups of the same talking heads talking out of their behinds. Larry Kudlow and Jim Cramer and others were seen, in CNBC footage assembled by "The Daily Show," making absurd, toxic and ultimately tragic predictions about how awesomely awesome the market was about to be, how Bear Stearns would never fail, how turnaround was coming, how it was time to buy. Maria Bartiromo and various on-air soldier ants were also shown sucking up to assorted titans of business in the golden days before the recession began to seem like something worse."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 7:02pm on Thursday, February 26th, 2009

CNBC is continuing its proud tradition of airing useless dreck. The CNBC hype says:

CNBC's "NEWBOs: The Rise of America's New Black Overclass," is an original one-hour primetime documentary about the growing wave of young black multimillionaires coming out of the sports, media and entertainment industries. This project examines the rise of "Newbos," -- young black athletes, entertainers, and creative entrepreneurs –

who, with the right amount of financial literacy, collaboration, intergenerational mentorship and social awareness, could have a profound, positive impact on black America. The special, hosted by Wall Street Journal reporter and CNBC correspondent Lee Hawkins, who coined the term "Newbo," is based on Hawkins' forthcoming book of the same title.