CNBC’s former “money honey,” anchorwoman Maria Bartiromo, who declined to renegotiate her $2 million contract with the business channel and then jumped to rival Fox Business Network, is appearing on CNBC in advertising to poach viewers to Fox Business Network.
“Come on over”: Maria Bartiromo
“Come on over,” Maria Bartiromo urges the CNBC audience in ads purchased in the New York market through Time Warner Cable. In the ad, Maria Bartiromo discusses the guests she plans to have on and topics she addresses, according to an article in Variety Magazine.
The promos for Bartiromo’s Fox show, Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo, planned to air on CNBC’s early morning Squawk Box program, will proceed Bartiromo’s show.
Aggressive tactic not entirely uncommon
FBN is the latest among aggressive network executives to use such “sharp-elbow” techniques. Placing local cable ads on a national network is not new. While CNBC may have control over its national advertisers, the local cable programming is a different story.
Variety notes that this method of promotion has a long and sordid past. The CW ran ads on ABC Family urging viewers to stop watching Pretty Little Liars and turn instead to the network’s own The Originals, the report said. ABC purchased ad on various cable outlines and then proceeded to promote Good Morning America on CNN and MSNBC, the report noted. Fox Business and Fox News have also used the idea in the past, according to Kevin Magee, executive vice president of Fox Business Network.
Ads started Monday, will run for unspecified time
The ads for Maria Bartiromo started Monday of this week, according to Magee, but he did not specify how long they might run, hinting at other uses of commercials. “We’re here to win,” Magee was quoted as saying.
Fox Business Network is in significantly fewer homes than CNBC. According to data from Carat, CNBC reaches about 82.3% of U.S. TV homes while Fox Business reaches 66.6%.
