Here’s one TV-news shake-up that won’t have the anchors scrambling to call their agents.
CNBC on Monday is set to debut a new look, one that will radically change the stock tickers that have scrolled along the network’s screen for years — along with many other elements. Indeed, says Robert Poulton, the vice president and executive creative director supervising the overhaul, executives expect at least a few viewers to be surprised or even put off by the redesign.
Viewers who tune in early Monday morning to “Worldwide Exchange” may notice that CNBC’s two scrolling tickers have been reduced to one. New space at the bottom of the screen — a “bottom line,” if you will — has been granted to top market indices, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500. Previously, these stats were stacked atop one another in the bottom-right corner of the screen, along with the network’s logo. By the way, that familiar CNBC icon is also changing — the first time in 27 years it has done so –- and is moving to the screen’s lower left-hand corner. Most U.S. viewers scan things from left to right, says Poulton, and the changes will ensure the new logo is the first thing they see when they read information on the screen.
The streamlining will create more space for CNBC’s anchors and reporters and the insights they bring each day. Viewers may be less distracted by a swirl of bottom-of-the-screen elements when Mike Santoli is trying to explain stock movements or David Faber has a mid-morning scoop. “What we do is unique,” Poulton says. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t just fill the screen with graphics. Let’s make sure we are providing the space so that our talent can look at the information and tell the story.”
Every TV entity has at some point in its existence adopted new fonts, colors and on-screen organization — refreshing the wallpaper, so to speak. But in CNBC’s case, such a maneuver is akin to a wholesale redecoration of the office. Many of the NBCUniversal network’s viewers watch for hours on end from brokerages and trading floors, scanning the lower third of its screen for the latest stocks to pop or swoon, as well as frequent market alerts about ousted CEOs, new M&A, or missed earnings estimates. CNBC’s lower third is a second-by-second touchstone.
And yet, CNBC has been on a mission to refocus itself. Under KC Sullivan, who became president of the business-news outlet last September, CNBC has been refining its aperture, homing in on its core business viewer. Gone in recent months are an experiment with national news led by former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith and the primetime series “Jay Leno’s Garage.” CNBC recently laid off a small number of digital workers who were not involved in core coverage areas. And the network has seemed more willing lately to pre-empt some of the unscripted programming it shows in primetime with special reports tied to business and finance.
Like other cable networks, CNBC is trying to move forward on shifting terrain. The people who once subscribed to cable as a matter of course are instead moving toward streaming video and social media. CNBC subscribers are projected to fall nearly 6% in 2024 to $62.7 million, according to Kagan, a market-research unit of S&P Global Intelligence. And with that, distribution revenue is estimated to dip nearly 2%, to $478.3 million, while ad sales are predicted to slow by 4.4% to about $178.8 million.
Maintaining appeal to the investors who watch CNBC day in and day out may be key. Executives believe the redesign will make information easier to absorb, while freeing up room for editorial staffers to use other graphics and design that help them illustrate news stories.
The new look also reflects other realities. Many viewers have access to other modules of business information while they interact with CNBC via mobile device or laptop. So CNBC may not need to put everything on the screen at once. “The dashboard of my car in the 1970s, everything was on all the time. Every light was flashing,” says Poulton. Design today “is much more purposeful. There is a hierarchy. Someone has taken the time to figure out the important things that people need to see, and then put that stuff up front.”
CNBC die-hards who would watch the network with the sound off while keeping an eye on the tickers need not fear, he says. The network will continue to run news headlines amid the stock quotes and will still flash a bigger “market alert” when important events happen, or financial information is disclosed.
The network has been working on this project for the past two years and more is on the way, including the use of virtual-reality graphics. If viewers have intense reactions, says Poulton, CNBC can make tweaks along the way if deemed necessary. “If we are really trying to move the market here, I would hope and expect we get some positive feedback, and that some people, perhaps, don’t like the changes” he says. “This is just the beginning of the project.”
