A CNBC insider forwarded TVNewser CNBC President Mark Hoffman‘s thoughts on the past year at CNBC. His “Happy Holidays” email — another non-denominational offering from a network bigwig — touches on every aspect of CNBC, from the international channels to their web presence.
Some notable excerpts:
“We virtually owned the critical subprime-mortgage crisis and the credit crunch stories and we traveled to places around the globe, including China, Vietnam and Dubai, for major stories and interviews.”
“All of your hard work has not gone unnoticed. Our measured ratings continue to grow. Business Day (5 AM-7 PM ET) is having its best year since 2003 and is up 33% in the key 25-54 demo from ’06.”
And the note ends on a cliffhanger. “In addition, CNBC announced deals this month with MSN and Yahoo! Finance and there will be more exciting announcements in the months ahead,” he writes.
Click continued to read Hoffman’s entire holiday message.
As 2007 draws to a close, we should all take a moment and reflect on what a great year it has been for CNBC around the world.
It is impossible to mention every accomplishment in the year ending, but for starters in Business Day in the United States alone we reported an incredible number of exclusives and “First on CNBC” interviews. We virtually owned the critical subprime-mortgage crisis and the credit crunch stories and we traveled to places around the globe, including China, Vietnam and Dubai, for major stories and interviews. We also successfully launched “Making Money Across America: The Power Lunch Road Show.” Further, CNBC co-hosted its first-ever Presidential debate with the Republican candidates and the first debate of the election cycle on economic issues.
And, our strategy to create one vertical network continues to develop in a powerful way after the markets close. From “Fast Money,” “Mad Money” and “Kudlow & Company” through “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch,” we’ve seen consistent program enhancements and huge measured audience growth.
Our long form unit was recognized this year with CNBC’s first-ever Business and Financial Emmy Awards. Primetime series such as “Business Nation” and “American Greed” as well as documentaries, including “Big Mac: Inside the McDonald’s Empire,” “Against the Tide: The Battle for New Orleans,” “October ’87: Crash & Comeback,” “Ultimate Fighting: From Blood Sport to Big Time” and “American Originals-Levi’s: Sewing A Legend” round out CNBC’s serious commitment to be the best in business journalism.
We also produced informative and entertaining primetime specials and series, including “The Millionaire Inside” and CNBC’s first original game show, “Fast Money MBA Challenge,” and an unprecedented special, “The Suze Orman Show: Your Money, Your Life,” before a studio audience as well as “Warren Buffett: The Billionaire Going Global” and “Greenspan: Power, Money & The American Dream.”
In the midst of all the original production, CNBC also successfully launched CNBC HD+, a high-definition channel with added on-screen data invaluable to our audience.
All of your hard work has not gone unnoticed. Our measured ratings continue to grow. Business Day (5 AM-7 PM ET) is having its best year since 2003 and is up 33% in the key 25-54 demo from ’06. In total viewers, Business Day is having its best year since 2002 and is up 20% from last year. Weekday prime is having its best year since 2001 and is up 12% in the 25-54 demo from ’06. In total viewers, weekday prime is having its best year since 2002 and is up 29% from last year.
Weekend prime is having its best year since 2001 in the 25-54 demo and is up 30% from ’06. In total viewers, weekend prime is also having its best year since 2001, up +32% from last year.
And these are only measured ratings. As you know, the majority of CNBC’s affluent and well-educated audience isn’t counted by Nielsen because they neither measure out-of-home viewing nor affluent homes.
I’m happy to say that we have also done an excellent job in converting great journalism into strong financial results. And with U.S. broadcast upfront ad sales up over 25 % and calendar upfronts up close to 40%, I’m confident that we will deliver record earnings yet again next year.
CNBC excelled around the globe as well. CNBC Europe signed two new affiliate deals, CNBC Africa and TVN CNBC Biznes in Poland, extending our reach by bringing the CNBC brand to new markets. CNBC Europe premiered “Capital Connection,” anchored from London and Singapore, as well as a series, “The Leaders.” It also signed new significant commercial deals with BT and the Dubai International Financial Centre. And CNBC Europe led the way for CNBC to become a strategic partner (with NBCU) for the World Economic Forum.
CNBC Asia relaunched its entire program schedule and created five new programs: “Squawk Australia,” “CNBC’s Cash Flow,” “Capital Connection,” “Trading Matters” and “Australia This Week.” CNBC Asia’s distribution increased by 40% this year and it established a new bureau in Sydney, Australia. CNBC Asia expanded its digital offerings by developing CNBC Mobile, which has 11 operators that now carry CNBC’s suite of mobile offerings. It also developed partnerships with Digital Chosun, the largest media conglomerate in Korea, ANC in the Philippines.
CNBC.com continues its impressive growth. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, CNBC.com traffic in the U.S. has grown 426% this year. The latest Nielsen data also shows that CNBC.com remains the #1 Financial News and Information site in time per person, with an average of over 59 minutes per person in November.
In addition, CNBC announced deals this month with MSN and Yahoo! Finance and there will be more exciting announcements in the months ahead.
With the great support of Jeff Zucker at NBCU and Jeff Immelt at GE, we will continue to invest in our people, our programming and our platform.
Enjoy the holiday season and happy new year!