CNBC has just launched its “Last Call” program, the outlet’s second attempt in recent months to bring business news programming to an evening audience.
The NBCUniversal-backed cable network has decided to cancel the 7 p.m. show, which launched in March of last year as part of a broader effort to keep business news buffs watching CNBC late in the evening. Executives decided viewers weren’t interested enough in the news at that time, and they plan to replace the show with an hour of “Shark Tank,” a CNBC staple in the late hours.
Anchor Brian Sullivan is expected to remain with CNBC, according to a person familiar with the matter, and the network is looking to find jobs for about a dozen employees who worked on the show. CNBC has recently focused on developing distinct verticals, such as sports, that viewers might be interested in.
The network's decision was previously reported on by New York Times reporter Ben Mullen on Channel X.
After years of ceding evening and primetime hours to docuseries and other programming adjacent to the network’s Wall Street core, CNBC has been working to launch new evening programming. In 2020, the network brought in Shepard Smith, a former Fox News Channel mainstay, to host “The News,” a general news show that covers both business and the broader cycle. Smith even led the election night coverage with a report tailored to CNBC viewers. But the show failed to generate a large enough crowd, and CNBC rang the closing bell in 2022. The decision was sudden enough that Smith chose not to serve out his remaining weeks as anchor of the show.
CNBC has been trying for years to come up with original programming that would keep Wall Streeters rooted after the market closes. The network is known for its hours of financial coverage, and its on-air staff, from Carl Quintanilla to Kelly Evans, are, to investors and traders, a kind of “SportsCenter” anchor. But executives have long been at a loss for how to move that attention to the evening hours. CNBC has relied, for the past several years, on unscripted competition shows like “Shark Tank,” “The Prophet” or “Jay Leno’s Garage.” But even those series have come under scrutiny as the economics of cable television have become less certain as viewers have moved to live broadcasts.
In a different era, CNBC tried to offer talk shows hosted by John McEnroe, Donny Deutch, and Dennis Miller.
More is coming….
