CNBC sees best ratings ever, still faces challenges

"Broadcasting & Cable" features a story that discusses CNBC's "shortfall season" and the challenges the network may be facing despite record ratings. Marisa Guthrie reports the network is currently in the process of reducing its budget by roughly 10 percent. As a result, people at the network are generally uneasy. According to a memo sent to employees in October by NBCU President and CEO Jeff Zucker, the budget reductions will affect promotional expenses, discretionary spending and staffing costs.

It is a different kind of corporate irony: As CNBC enjoys a new level of visibility and is about to launch a massive new marketing campaign to capitalize on the momentum, it must do so while navigating through the same flailing economy that has sent the network's proverbial stock soaring.

CNBC has enjoyed  record ratings since the financial crisis began "thanks to everyone from anxious office drones to stay-at-home moms who wouldn't necessarily know Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) from a Labrador, all tuning in to monitor the nation's financial meltdown." CNBC averaged over 500,000 viewers in October, up 66% in the fourth quarter over last year's figures for the same time period. Interestingly, the ratings reflect only television sets tuned to CNBC inside homes and do not take into account the sets on trading floors, airport lounges or similar commercial space. 

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