CNBC Acquires ‘Nightly Business Report’

By Chris Ariens 

CNBC has acquired the PBS series “Nightly Business Report.” CNBC will move production of the show to its Englewood Cliffs, NJ world headquarters. For decades the show was co-anchored from the Miami studios of WPBT, NBR’s founding PBS sponsor.

The show has had several owners over the past several years. In 2010, WPBT sold it to a company run by Mykalai Kontilai, a public television program distributor who was also the manager for mixed martial artist Tito Ortiz. Kontilai sold the show to Atalaya Capital Management in 2011, who sold to CNBC today.

The show has seen cuts as Atalaya looked for a buyer. Seven staffers lost their jobs late last year when the the show’s Chicago bureau closed. The managing editor and executive vice president were also cut last year.

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Beginning March 4, NBR will be anchored by CNBC’s Tyler Mathisen and Susie Gharib, the program’s current co-anchor, herself a former CNBC anchor. The network intends to maintain the familiar look, feel and format of the program which is seen on 180 PBS stations nationwide. “We are proud to take the reins of television’s longest running business program,” said Mark Hoffman, CEO of CNBC. “Our goal is to utilize our global editorial resources to both preserve and strengthen “Nightly Business Report.”

The show’s founding anchor Paul Kangas, retired in 2009 after 30 years of hosting the show.

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