The presidential election has garnered record interest and is partially credited/blamed with a decline in football ratings. However, CNBC is combining political coverage while taking cues from football coverage. CNBC announced on Monday that they will utilize the over 100 streams of election coverage as part of NBC Universal (which includes NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC among others) and cut from stream to stream.
Jay Yarow, the SVP and executive editor of CNBC, said, “The inspiration for our coverage is the NFL’s RedZone, which provides viewers with highlights from across the league by only covering when a scoring play is about to happen. Likewise, we plan to swing around the country with multiple feeds going at once on the screen, cutting in when something exciting is happening in a particular state.”
While business networks typically get a spike in ratings for the election, most Americans turn to the broadcast networks or one of the big three cable news outlets (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC). CNBC’s coverage could provide an interesting alternative for political junkies who are looking for news across the country, not just the presidency.
The broadcast will be anchored by Carl Quintanilla and Kelly Evans. CNBC will also have reporters in nine states, in addition to the live feeds.