CNBC Viewership Drops To 22 Year Low

It appears that "subdued volatility" is hurting not only bank trading revenues. Two years after CNBC announced that it would no longer rely on Nielsen ratings to measure its daytime audience (just after we reported its viewership had tumbled the most on record), turning to rival Cogent Reports instead, the latest data reveals that the decline for the financial channel has continued, and in the past quarter CNBC delivered 152,000 total daily viewers, its lowest viewership since 1991 for the 28-year-old network.

At the time when CNBC switched away from Nielsen, it complained that the media tracking company failed to track "out of home" viewing in locations such as airports, gyms, restaurants and offices. Well, with all viewers taken into account, the picture, pardon the pun, deteriorated further, and in the past quarter, CNBC delivered its lowest rated quarter since 1991, and in total viewers, had its lowest rated quarter in 22 years, dating back to 1995

And while the reason for CNBC"s ongoing decline is unclear, an unexpected winner has emerged in Fox Business News, which continued its winning streak against CNBC by drawing more viewers for the fourth consecutive quarter, and in the last quarter average 187,000 total viewers across the business day (9:30am-5pm), up 26%, while the same category at CNBC saw a 14% decline to 152,000 total viewers. For the month of September, FBN averaged 195,000 total Business Day viewers, 23% higher than CNBC, which had 158,000 total viewers, which was its second lowest rated month ever.

It may come as a surprise to some, but "Lou Dobbs Tonight" continues to be the top-rated program on business television in both total viewers and in the 25–54-year-old demographic. Furthermore  Dobbs, a longtime CNN anchor before jumping to Fox Business in 2011, has led the way in total viewers on business TV for 57 straight weeks.

With markets hitting new record ignoring natural disasters like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and rising tensions with North Korea, FBN closed out the month of September with its 11th monthly win over CNBC. Curiously, CNBC remains the only business channel showing yearly declines, while all other networks have double-digit gains across the board for the year, notably down 14% in Business Day viewers over their performance last year, with 177,000 total viewers. 

We"ll leave it up to readers to come up with the reasons behind CNBC"s chronic decline.

Stossel slams BOC Alt-Media ban: "Be nice or we kick you out."

Contributed by Sprott Money

Original available here:

September 15, 2017

Criticism continues to mount in the wake of the Bank of Canada’s exclusion of free market
economists and the two-tier media strategy it implemented for a key policy-making conference, held yesterday in Ottawa.

The conference’s goal was to air out preliminary issues related to the BOC’s inflation-control
agreement with the Canadian government, which is renewed every five years.

Canada’s monetary policy politburo, which, through its interest rate policies, sets or influences
prices throughout the economy, is currently reflecting on how much more it
will ask ordinary Canadians to pay for their food, clothing and shelter during
the coming years.

Stossel: the establishment protects itself

However, there were few ordinary Canadians to be seen at the BOC workshop, which was essentially paneled
by bureaucrats, university professors and other government-financed officials.

“The establishment protects itself,” said John Stossel, a Fox News contributor, who was in town to address the
Montreal Economics Institute about the perils of central planning.
“People have become comfortable with the idea of a few old men setting public
policy in a back room.”

The long-time investigative journalist, author and consumer activist, who has followed
government closely for decades, was more nuanced regarding the Bank of Canada’s
ban on alternative media.

“I can understand their reasoning,” said Stossel. “You can’t really have a rabble disturbing things.”

BOC to MSM: be nice or we will kick you out

Stossel was more concerned about the message the BOC ban sends to mainstream media, such as the
Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News, who were given preferential
access to the policy event.

“That’s a club that all governments have,” said Stossel, who recently began contributing to
Reason TV, a US-based free markets
web-cast. “It’s “be nice or we will kick you out.” The White House does that
too.”

Tim Moen, leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada, also broke his silence on the issue by
issuing a strong condemnation.

“The Bank of Canada is suffering from a real lack of free market input,” Moen wrote on a party-affiliated social media page. “It"s probably naive to imagine an institution charged with centrally planned
money creation would want input from critics.”

A perfect time to look “outside the box”

Surprisingly, one of the most obvious free market voices that the Bank of Canada ignored during
its consultation process came to the central bank’s defence.

“The reality is that most top monetary policy experts already work at central banks or at
university research departments that accept their ideas,” said David Howden, academic vice-president at the Mises Institute of Canada, and author of numerous papers dealing with monetary policy from a free markets
perspective.

“The bad news is that central banks are forced to refer to the same specialists over and over
again,” said Howden, who is currently working on a paper dealing with central
bank balance sheet analysis. “The fact that the current process is a multi-year
reflection makes it especially important that they consult outside opinions and
not rely on the presumption that the current framework is OK.”

Howden cited George Bragues, a professor at the University of Guelph-Humber, as one
example of an “outside the box” thinker who the BOC might have consulted.

A return to a gold standard?

Ironically, Stossel, who admits to not being a monetary expert nor an expert on Canada, has
offered interesting advice on the subject in the past.

“(Americans) should learn from Canada,” he wrote back in 2013. “The Canadians had no central bank when the Great Depression began, just
private banks issuing currency backed by gold. During the 1930s, not even one
Canadian bank failed. Thousands failed in the U.S.”

Stossel, who during his many years at ABC was regarded as one of America’s top
reporters, may be right. But a cursory glance suggests that they don’t make Canadians like they used to.

They don’t make economists the way they used to either.

Welcome To New York City's Taxpayer-Funded $2 Million Bathroom

Authored by John Stossel via Townhall.com,

Did you see the $2 million dollar bathroom? That"s what New York City government spent to build a "comfort station" in a park.

I went to look at it.

There were no gold-plated fixtures. It"s just a little building with four toilets and four sinks.

I asked park users, "What do you think that new bathroom cost?"

A few said $70,000. One said $100,000. One said, "I could build it for $10,000."

They were shocked when I told them what the city spent.

No park bathroom needs to cost $2 million. An entire six-bedroom house nearby was for sale for $539,000.

Everything costs more when government builds it.

"Government always pays above-average prices for below-average work," says my friend who makes a living privatizing government activities.

--Obamacare"s website was supposed to cost $464 million. It cost $834 million and still crashed.

--Washington, D.C."s Visitor Center rose in cost from $265 million to $621 million.

--The Veterans Affairs medical center being built near Denver was projected to cost $590 million. Now they estimate $1.7 billion.

Government spends more because every decision is tied up in endless rules. Rigid specs. Affirmative action. Minority outreach. Wheelchair access. "The process is designed to prevent any human from using judgment, or adapting to unforeseen circumstances," says Philip Howard of the government reform group Common Good, adding, "The idea of a commercial relationship, based on norms of reasonableness and reciprocity, is anathema."

But New York City"s bureaucrats are unapologetic about their $2 million toilet. The Parks Department even put out a statement saying, "Our current estimate to build a new comfort station with minimal site work is $3 million."

"$3 million?!" I said to New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, incredulously.

"New York City is the most expensive place to build," he replied. As a result, "$2 million was a good deal."

I pointed out that entire homes sell for less. He said, "We built these comfort stations to last. ... (L)ook at the material we use compared to that of a home. These are very, very durable materials."

They have to be, he says, because the bathroom gets so much use. "We"re going to expect thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of visitors. ... So we have to build it to last."

Yet not far away, Bryant Park has a bathroom that gets much more use. That bathroom cost just $300,000. Why the difference?

Bryant Park is privately managed.

New York politicians also order contractors to pay "prevailing" wages. That usually means union wages, and that adds 13-25 percent to all bills.

When I asked Commissioner Silver about that, he said, "This is a city that does believe strongly in labor."

New York Democrats act as if "labor" means union labor. It"s an insult to laborers. Most don"t belong to unions. Unions, however, fund Democrats" campaigns.

Since government spends other people"s money, they don"t care that much about cost and they certainly don"t care much about speed. Many Parks Department projects are years behind schedule.

Commissioner Silver says he"s made improvements. "We"ve now saved five months out of what used to be four years."

"That"s still terrible!" I said.

"We believe strongly in engaging the public," he replied. "We have a process that includes design, procurement and construction."

But so does the private sector, which gets the job done faster.

Silver added: "[Privately managed] Bryant Park did a renovation. ... (W)e do it from the ground up!"

But no one forced the city to build from the ground up. Anyway, renovation can cost as much as new construction. Governments just spend more.

Sometimes, people get so fed up that they take matters into their own hands.

Toronto"s government estimated that a tiny staircase for a park would cost $65,000-$150,000.

So a local citizen installed a staircase himself.

Cost? $550.

Did the bureaucrats thank him? No. They say they will tear his staircase down. Can"t have private citizens doing things for themselves.

Because private builders save so much money on staircases and bathrooms, imagine what we could save if government turned construction of government housing, airports and roads over to the private sector.

Obama To Receive $400,000 Speaking Fee At Cantor Fitzgerald Conference

Shortly after Barack Obama delivered his first (free) speech today since leaving the White House in Chicago before an invitation-only crowd of college students, community organizers and other fans, Fox News" Charlie Gasparino reports that in what may be his first paid speaking arrangement, Obama will be paid $400,000 to speak at Cantor Fitzgerald"s healthcare conference this September, setting the benchmark for how much an hour of the former president"s time will cost going forward.

#BREAKING @BarackObama has agreed to speak at Cantor Fitzgerald’s health care conference for $400,000! I discuss NOW on @FoxNews!

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) April 24, 2017

Obama, who spent years bashing big banks (even if, like Trump, ultimately achieved nothing to halt Wall Street"s dominance) will deliver the keynote address at the organization"s lunch in what will be one of his first paid speeches.

"What sources are telling FOX Business Network is that former President Obama, now less than 100 days out of office, has agreed to a speaking engagement during Cantor Fitzgerald’s healthcare conference in September," FBN"s Gasparino said. "We understand that he is going to be the keynote speaker for the lunch, and he’s going to receive a fee of $400,000. We should point out that that’s in line with what Hilary Clinton got... we should point out that Cantor will neither confirm or deny."

Actually Charlie is off: based on our data, the average Hillary Clinton speech averaged just over $200,000.

 

Obama"s speech is, however, in the ballpark for what Bill Clinton charged initially, even though the fee gradually declined over time.

 

The former Democratic community organizer and Illinois senator has focused his nearly 100 days out of office on relaxing at various locations around the globe and planning for his foundation"s library and community center in Chicago.

Two months ago, Penguin Random House won an auction to publish the first book by the Obamas since leaving office for a record price of $60 million. The sum was four times greater than the $15 million Bill Clinton received from Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House, for his 2004 memoirs My Life when he left the White House. George W Bush made an estimated $10 million from his book Decision Points.

Dow Slides: Gasparino Says "No Deal" After Freedom Caucus Leaves White House

Having rallied on news that The Freedom Caucus gave President a "standing ovation" upon his entry, Fox Business" Charlie Gasparino reports that The Freedom Caucus has just left without agreement...

interesting: @freedomcaucus walks out of @WhiteHouse WITHOUT agreement and no comment to reporters https://t.co/B26zpqK1WJ

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) March 23, 2017

Stocks are not happy.

And some conetxt for the drop...

The bottom line is for now, the market thinks the vote will be a "no" or won"t happen.

John Harwood Asks "Who Do You Believe America?" - Gets Surprising Answer

CNBC Political reporter, friend of Hillary, and Democratic Party sycophant John Harwood took to Twitter last night to ask:

"Who do you believe America? Wikileaks, or US Intel Officials?"

The response, which emerged from his immediate following which one would surmise, should gravitate toward Harwood"s liberal ideology and thus respond in a way Harwood expected, was yet another slap in the face for the establishment"s perspective on how the world should really run.

Who do you believe America?

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) January 6, 2017

And that Mr. Harwood is why Donald Trump is about to become President! When will you and your ilk wake up to this?

As Trump tweeted earlier in the week: "It is for the American people to make up their minds as to the truth."

This merely confirms Lou Dobbs" survey from earlier in the week.

#LDTPoll: Who do you believe on the Russian hacking allegations?

— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) January 4, 2017