CNBC seeks $14.99 per month for new CNBC+ streaming service
CNBC will charge $14.99 a month, or $99.99 a year, for access to a new targeted streaming service called CNBC+, which executives see as a way to expand the audience for the business news channel that many already watch outside the home.
An email sent Wednesday to people who signed up for CNBC’s digital offering discusses the $99.99 price, which will be available for about two days. The post features testimonials from CNBC anchors including Andrew Ross Sorkin, Deidre Bosa and Becky Quick. “We want to get the news. We want to get it quickly. We want it first. We want to do it well,” says Quick. “And we want to get it to you so you understand.” Variety reported CNBC’s streaming intentions earlier in December.
The new CNBC+ is not seen as a way to challenge Netflix or Disney+. There won’t be any new programming on the service that isn’t already available on the cable network and its overseas counterparts, and there won’t be a huge increase in content spending to give viewers access to movies like “Wall Street” or “The Boiler Room.” . CNBC hosts like Joe Kernen won’t give cooking tips and Sara Eisen won’t launch a book club.
Instead, the new offering is seen as a way to further CNBC President KC Sullivan’s goals – to engage the network’s core business news viewers for longer periods of time. CNBC+ offers a “global feed” that allows viewers to watch shows from Asia and Europe, as well as the United States, wherever they are. They will also gain access to advanced layers of market data and the ability to view CNBC’s programming library on demand, the Wednesday email said.
CNBC+ will be available in different tiers. An all-inclusive offering, for $599.99 per year, bundles CNBC+ with an online investment club led by market analyst Jim Cramer, as well as a “pro” level that includes stock ratings and price targets and the ability to monitor a specific portfolio. The standalone pro tier, which does not involve the Cramer investment club, sells for $299.99 per year, or $34.99 per month.
CNBC is unveiling its permanent streaming plans as it prepares to be spun off along with several other cable networks from NBCUniversal. Parent company Comcast expects to spin off most of its cable interests from the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks and the Peacock streaming service over the next twelve months. The move will allow cable networks, which are struggling with declines in subscriptions and advertising, to use more of their cable networks. the revenue they generate for their own business initiatives, rather than feeding it into a larger corporate entity. That’s a strategy articulated to cable employees in recent days by Mark Lazarus, the senior NBCU executive named CEO of the new company.
