The “Uphill Battle” Of CNBC 7pm

An e-mail responds to TVNewser’s report that CNBC is creating a “Business Center-like flagship newscast of record for the business world:”

“CNBC’s efforts to do a 7pm signature show will face the same uphill battle all evening business shows there have faced. Most are skeptical that a new show will do much more than cost a lot of money to produce. It has been next to impossible to garner ratings in that time slot, even when the stock market was red hot. People on the east coast just don’t want to watch business news at 7pm. It’s local access time and Jeopardy’s on. In the central time zone, people are watching local news, and in mountain and pacific time zones, nobody’s home yet. The 6, 6:30, 7pm time slots have been anchored by some of the network’s best, from Ron Insana and Sue Herera, to Ted David and Bill Griffith. No matter who’s done it, no matter the format, from Business Center to The Edge to Business Tonight, none has worked. Insiders wish Hoffman would spend some more time and money on staffing some of the daytime programs which are sorely in need of increased headcount.”