“On Assignment” Is A CNBC Hit; Are “The Suits Going To Be More Tape-Driven Now?”

Following the success of last week’s “Las Vegas Inc.” on CNBC, should we expect more documentaries on CNBC primetime?

“Everyone was raving about it in the hallways,” a tipster said recently,” “and I think the suits are going to be more tape-driven now.” CNBC says no more specials are in the works, but that could change.

The CNBC on Assignment special was CNBC’s top performer in primetime on Thursday, August 11. It averaged 243,000 viewers at 8pm and 105,000 at 11pm. In the 25-54 demo, the show delivered 89,000 viewers, 25% above the meager quarter to date time period average.

“It ranks as the best A25-54 delivery for a CNBC on Assignment yet,” another tipster says. (The last Assignment, on NASCAR, averaged 88,000 demo viewers for its premiere.) The Las Vegas special reaired on Wednesday night and averaged a relatively strong 192,000 viewers.

Both Assignment’s were anchored by Dylan Ratigan (formerly of Bullseye). Could he get a new primetime show?…

> Update: 10:50pm: “I can’t imagine that everyone at NBC News was ‘raving’ about CNBC coming in last place on August 11th for the original run and repeat of their program,” an e-mailer says. “89,000 viewers in the demo is not something to brag about; it’s a hair away from getting a [scratch] rating instead of a 0.1.”

> Update: 10:55pm: “Dylan Ratigan should have his own show!,” Kev e-mails. “I thought Ratigan’s Vegas, Inc. was fantastic; these documentaries — On Assignment, the eBay Effect, The Age of WalMart, etc. — are CNBC’s strong suit at night.”