NBC, that paragon of financial advice, has finally begun to reap what it has been sewing this last year. They couldn't call the onset of the recession, then foolishly cheered any sign of "green shoots" they could find, and stupidly embraced the recent pronouncement that the recession was "over." Their coverage has been consistently wrong-headed, and it views the world exclusively through the lens of the wealthy "investor" class, forsaking Main Street and Average Joe. As real unemployment mounts up to the 20% mark in many states, men and women in the unemployment line, and Boomers watching their retirement portfolio wither away, have lost their enthusiasm for the quick stock trade and pithy advice on how to "play" the market. There's not a lot of fun and play going on out there in the real world.
The result? A massive drop in viewership with shows like Squawkbox down well over 60%, Street Signs off 50%, Closing Bell down 57%, Fast Money down 60%, Cramer's Mad Money and Kudlow's Report down 67% as well. Squawk about that for a while!
Viewers seem to be fed up with the nonsense, and they are voting with their feet. People have clearly perceived the vast disconnect between Wall Street and the Main Street economy. In fact, the whole notion of shows titled "Fast Money" and "Mad Money" is offensive in this economic climate where so much suffering plagues the nation, with record foreclosures, massive job loss, and banks like Citibank's throwing salt in the wounds with nifty 30% interest rates on credit cards. This mindset of making a quick buck is what led to all the rampant speculation in housing and stocks in the first place, causing the inevitable crash we are now dealing with. NBC is well behind the curve with it's show spin. It's as if the Home and Garden channel were still airing "Flip That House" in their prime time lineup.
TV has never been about providing its viewers with real useful information, or truth about the world, for that matter. While not the worst of the three big networks, (FOX News wins that one hands down), the NBC clan must eventually realize that Kudlow's myopic optimism, Cramer's buffonery, and all the other Squawking by a legion of analysts that are consistently wrong can result in nothing but further ratings declines if they keep at it. Viewers are already fleeing in droves. Advertizers can't be far behind. The axe that cuts non-performing TV personalities cleanly across the throat is sure to follow numbers like those NBC has turned in recently. It serves them right.
Here's a novel idea. Replace all these bothersome TV personalities with people who actually know something, and tell the truth. Imagine a network where the key personalities were MISH Shedlock, James Kunstler, Karl Denninger, Barry Ritholtz, Charles Hugh Smith, Martin Weiss, Jim Quinn, Ilargi and Stoneleigh of Automatic Earth, and Juan Cole on the foreign desk? Read these blogs daily, and a handful of others, and you might actually learn something about the economy, the real causes of the crash, and what we might do to correct the whole mess.
The result? A massive drop in viewership with shows like Squawkbox down well over 60%, Street Signs off 50%, Closing Bell down 57%, Fast Money down 60%, Cramer's Mad Money and Kudlow's Report down 67% as well. Squawk about that for a while!
Viewers seem to be fed up with the nonsense, and they are voting with their feet. People have clearly perceived the vast disconnect between Wall Street and the Main Street economy. In fact, the whole notion of shows titled "Fast Money" and "Mad Money" is offensive in this economic climate where so much suffering plagues the nation, with record foreclosures, massive job loss, and banks like Citibank's throwing salt in the wounds with nifty 30% interest rates on credit cards. This mindset of making a quick buck is what led to all the rampant speculation in housing and stocks in the first place, causing the inevitable crash we are now dealing with. NBC is well behind the curve with it's show spin. It's as if the Home and Garden channel were still airing "Flip That House" in their prime time lineup.
TV has never been about providing its viewers with real useful information, or truth about the world, for that matter. While not the worst of the three big networks, (FOX News wins that one hands down), the NBC clan must eventually realize that Kudlow's myopic optimism, Cramer's buffonery, and all the other Squawking by a legion of analysts that are consistently wrong can result in nothing but further ratings declines if they keep at it. Viewers are already fleeing in droves. Advertizers can't be far behind. The axe that cuts non-performing TV personalities cleanly across the throat is sure to follow numbers like those NBC has turned in recently. It serves them right.
Here's a novel idea. Replace all these bothersome TV personalities with people who actually know something, and tell the truth. Imagine a network where the key personalities were MISH Shedlock, James Kunstler, Karl Denninger, Barry Ritholtz, Charles Hugh Smith, Martin Weiss, Jim Quinn, Ilargi and Stoneleigh of Automatic Earth, and Juan Cole on the foreign desk? Read these blogs daily, and a handful of others, and you might actually learn something about the economy, the real causes of the crash, and what we might do to correct the whole mess.
