CNBC has lost some of its avarice for the long-running primetime series “American Greed.”
The documentary program, which examines white-collar crime, scams and embezzlement, among other business-focused wrongdoing, has been running on the NBCUniversal business-news channel since 2007, completing 15 seasons and 222 episodes, along with three spin-offs. In 2023, however, the series order was significantly smaller than those in the past, according to two people familiar with the matter, and production of original episodes has ceased for the moment.
“CNBC has not canceled ‘American Greed,'” the network said in a statement. Six new episodes ran between January 24 and March 7 of this year. Past seasons have included 12 episodes or more, according to one of the people familiar with the program
CNBC and the production company behind “American Greed,” Kurtis Productions, declined to make executives available for comment. It is possible that CNBC could run repeats of the show.
The end of production for new episodes in 2023 was brought about for financial reasons, according to one of the people familiar with the situation, with many units of NBCUniversal looking to cut spending and budgets as the company grapples with the complexities of the streaming era. This person suggested that CNBC could call for new episodes in 2024, but said the network has yet to indicate a timeframe of when it might do so.
CNBC’s primetime has operated very differently than its typical dayside programming. During the day, the network features its signature business-news coverage, while it has used evenings over the years to run business-themed competition programming, such as reruns of “Shark Tank” or the original series “The Profit.” In the past, CNBC ran talk shows led by Dennis Miller and John McEnroe.
In recent weeks, the network has appeared to be examining its evening offerings. In January, it canceled the series “Jay Leno’s Garage,” which had been on the air for seven seasons and featured the one-time “Tonight” host interviewing celebrities and showing off classic cars. In March, CNBC launched “Last Call,” a 7 p.m. business-news program, replacing a more general-interest news show led by former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. Under KC Sullivan. the new network president, CNBC has pursued a strategy of focusing more intently on content that plays up to an audience focused on business news and personal finance.
