It’s not because Fox’s anchorettes look better than CNBC’s. It’s just that Fox’s on-air talent isn’t trying to be as ‘cool’ as the Street. Fox’s people talk with me, not at me or over my head.
I’ve complained before about CNBC’s penchant for playing the game as if it were an insider, trying to buddy-up to execs and an endless parade of unknown-stock analysts. The interviews and conversations are aired as if the only people watching are Captains of Industry. Everyone’s chortling to themselves about how smart they are.
But is any of CNBC's stock and investment advice CNBC worth anything? Ever hear your broker, financial planner, or accountant say you should pay attention to it? of course not. In fact, they say just the opposite. Turn off the TV.
Now, Fox is not averse to touting stocks or giving no-names a perch from which to make a pitch. But the level of conversation and reporting is much more entertaining. The trading session numbers, “stocks to watch” and sometimes-laughable efforts to explain the market’s movement are similar to those on CNBC.
But Fox doesn’t take it all so seriously. FBN is not trying to get into “The Club," to be invited to Davos as a participant, not just a reporter.
FBN’s just doing the news of the day, offering a few comments of their own, and not wasting your time with charting analysts, small mutual fund managers plowing tiny investment niches, and bond salesmen who, really, don’t have anything in their inventory that a normal person could buy.
Seems to me that CEOs and investment relations people might begin to realize there is a difference between CNBC and FBN, too. CNBC is where they can go to talk to each other or their own company’s employees. Fox is where they might actually talk to investors like you and me.Fox DOES look better, too. :)
