The network had just purchased FNN (Financial News Network) and was about to be in 40 million homes, up from 17. I was hired as head of Marketing, and it couldn’t have been a more thrilling time. We relaunched the network and changed everything, starting with the name. It was always CNBC, but in 1992 the acronym stood for Consumer News and Business Channel. We dropped the definition, but were told not to associate with the network’s NBC parent, for fear of alienating the affiliates.
Next we were mandated to focus on Primetime, as Daytime was solidly performing. GE invested $10million in marketing. That was a lot of money in 1993, especially for a small cable company (which it was at the time). We re-did all the graphics and show opens. We changed the logo. Even new stationery had to be created. We re-branded the network entirely.
We advertised. We promoted. We got the word out. But we had an insurmountable problem. We could get viewers to the set. We just couldn’t get them to stay there. Primetime consisted of one very bad show. Three hours of a single block of programming called Real Story.
Our primetime ratings ranged from a slash mark to a point one. We used to joke that the difference between the slash mark and the point one was a single viewer going out to dinner.
So I’m wondering if this blog has the opposite problem. We have no way to promote it, but once people find it, they see something in it that keeps them coming back. We have a loyal, but relatively small, reader base.
M and I began writing primarily for ourselves. To keep us focused and on track. But knowing there are people out there who can relate to what we say is what helps keep us motivated. If you read this blog and like it, we’d appreciate it if you could send a copy of the link to your friends and family whom you think might enjoy it too.
Thank you readers. Trust me. This Real Story is better than the original.
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