What Impact will Maria Bartiromo Have when she begins Anchoring Opening Bell on Fox Business Channel?
I have a feeling the "Money Honey" still has what it takes This morning while watching a segment on Imus in the Morning I saw the news that Maria Bartiromo was going to begin hosting her now show this Monday February 24th on the Business Channel. TV Newser has the full news here.
As a long-time fan of CNBC I was trying to think what the impact was going to be. Was Maria simply looking for a nice payday as she winds down her legendary career (anyone who has a song written for them by Joey Ramone is a legend) or is she going to try and put Fox Business on the map like she did with CNBC when she became the first reporter to report live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
My guess is that Maria is going to bring her A-game to Fox and that she’s going to have a big impact on Fox News ratings. What’s ironic is that she will be going head to head with CNBC’s franchise Jim Cramer. That will make it a real battle and it will be interesting to watch how they do in the ratings because they seem to be long-time friends. I believe Maria was one of the people, along with the great Mark Haines, who first helped bring Jim to national attention.
In 2014 it’s easy to forget just how big of a star Maria was in the late 90s. That was the time when people talked about stocks more than they did fantasy football. A time when the internet was still in its infancy and stocks were in a manic phase. Maria would be down on the Floor, back before computers replaced the specialists, standing her ground in a sea of predominantly men who were running back and forth between their stations. It was back in the time when a simple mention on CNBC could boost a stock ten percent. When animal spirits weren’t just in the air, but had taken control of America.
After the first crash and subsequent quasi-cold war between average Americans and the stock market, Maria moved into the afternoon role where she was paired for a while with Dylan Ratigan in a combination that I thought had a lot of chemistry. It was a time when Dylan had decided to stop conforming to what he thought he should be on television and simply acted like himself—a very compelling talent who I hope will soon resurface in a show that takes advantage of his talent. No disrespect to NBC news, but Dylan would be a much better prime time host than 80% of the current on-air talent.
Dylan eventually left CNBC and Maria seemed to ease into the final years of her contract. She still got the big gets and was still a charismatic presence on television, but she had lost the edge that had helped her become one of the top female anchors in all of news. An anchor who probably should have been given the co-host position on the Today Show.
Now that Maria has landed on Fox Business Channel, I think she is going to be re-energized. I think being around Fox stable of tier 1 talents is going to bring out the same competitive drive that led her to the top of CNBC. I think you’ll see her (at least if FNC is smart that is) and her brand be leveraged through appearances on the Big Channel to bring more viewers to the business channel.
The bottom line is that Maria Bartiromo is one of the most well-known TV personalities of the past twenty years. She came on the scene at exactly the right time and rode the investing boom to become a household name. I think she may well do the same at Fox. I think a new show and new company is going to result in a re-energized Maria who is going to make a bigger impact on cable news ratings than many people expect.
Cramer vs. the Money Honey---two great TV personalities in a battle in which the biggest winners will likely be the viewers.
As a long-time fan of CNBC I was trying to think what the impact was going to be. Was Maria simply looking for a nice payday as she winds down her legendary career (anyone who has a song written for them by Joey Ramone is a legend) or is she going to try and put Fox Business on the map like she did with CNBC when she became the first reporter to report live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
My guess is that Maria is going to bring her A-game to Fox and that she’s going to have a big impact on Fox News ratings. What’s ironic is that she will be going head to head with CNBC’s franchise Jim Cramer. That will make it a real battle and it will be interesting to watch how they do in the ratings because they seem to be long-time friends. I believe Maria was one of the people, along with the great Mark Haines, who first helped bring Jim to national attention.
In 2014 it’s easy to forget just how big of a star Maria was in the late 90s. That was the time when people talked about stocks more than they did fantasy football. A time when the internet was still in its infancy and stocks were in a manic phase. Maria would be down on the Floor, back before computers replaced the specialists, standing her ground in a sea of predominantly men who were running back and forth between their stations. It was back in the time when a simple mention on CNBC could boost a stock ten percent. When animal spirits weren’t just in the air, but had taken control of America.
After the first crash and subsequent quasi-cold war between average Americans and the stock market, Maria moved into the afternoon role where she was paired for a while with Dylan Ratigan in a combination that I thought had a lot of chemistry. It was a time when Dylan had decided to stop conforming to what he thought he should be on television and simply acted like himself—a very compelling talent who I hope will soon resurface in a show that takes advantage of his talent. No disrespect to NBC news, but Dylan would be a much better prime time host than 80% of the current on-air talent.
Dylan eventually left CNBC and Maria seemed to ease into the final years of her contract. She still got the big gets and was still a charismatic presence on television, but she had lost the edge that had helped her become one of the top female anchors in all of news. An anchor who probably should have been given the co-host position on the Today Show.
Now that Maria has landed on Fox Business Channel, I think she is going to be re-energized. I think being around Fox stable of tier 1 talents is going to bring out the same competitive drive that led her to the top of CNBC. I think you’ll see her (at least if FNC is smart that is) and her brand be leveraged through appearances on the Big Channel to bring more viewers to the business channel.
The bottom line is that Maria Bartiromo is one of the most well-known TV personalities of the past twenty years. She came on the scene at exactly the right time and rode the investing boom to become a household name. I think she may well do the same at Fox. I think a new show and new company is going to result in a re-energized Maria who is going to make a bigger impact on cable news ratings than many people expect.
Cramer vs. the Money Honey---two great TV personalities in a battle in which the biggest winners will likely be the viewers.
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