CNBC will seek $14.99 a month, or $99.99 a year, for access to a new targeted streaming service called CNBC+ that executives see as a way to expand the audience for the business-news outlet that many already watch outside the home.
An email sent Wednesday to people who have signed up for CNBC digital offerings discusses the $99.99 price, which it says is available for approximately two days. The message includes testimonials from CNBC anchors including Andrew Ross Sorkin, Deidre Bosa and Becky Quick. “We want to get the news. We want to get it fast. We want to get it first. We want to get it right,” Quick says. “And we want to deliver it to you so that you understand it.” Variety previously reported CNBC’s streaming intentions in December.
The new CNBC+ isn’t seen as a way to challenge Netflix or Disney+. There will be no new programs on the service that aren’t already on the cable network and its overseas counterparts and no massive ramp-up of content spend to give viewers access to movies like “Wall Street” or “The Boiler Room.” CNBC anchors like Joe Kernen won’t offer cooking tips and Sara Eisen won’t launch a book club.
Instead, the new offering is viewed as a way to further the aims of CNBC President KC Sullivan — to engage the network’s core business-news viewers for longer periods of time. CNBC+ offers a “global feed” that viewers can use to follow programming from Asia and Europe, as well as the United States, no matter where they are. They will also gain access to advanced layers of market data and the ability to watch CNBC’s library of programs on demand, according to Wednesday’s email.
CNBC+ will come in a variety of tiers. An all-inclusive offer, for $599.99 per year, bundles CNBC+ with an online investment club led by market analyst Jim Cramer, as well as a “pro” tier that includes stock ratings and price targets and an ability to monitor a specific portfolio. The stand-alone pro tier, which does not include the Cramer investment club, sells for $299.99 per year, or $34.99 per month.
CNBC unveils its firm streaming plans as it prepares to be spun off, along with several other cable networks from NBCUniversal. Corporate parent Comcast expects to split the bulk of its cable holdings from the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks and the Peacock streaming service over the next 12 months.The move will allow the cable networks, grappling with downturns in subscriptions and advertising, to use more of the revenue they generate for their own business initiatives, rather than feeding to a bigger corporate entity. That’s a strategy that has been articulated to cable employees in recent days by Mark Lazarus, the senior NBCU executive who has been named CEO of the new company.
