CNBC’s juggling act getting a shaky start

On Jan. 27, its second day on the air, CNBC’s new “Dennis Miller Show” had a potentially nice boost lined up: A live-via-satellite visit from none other than Tim Russert, host of NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” talking about that night’s New Hampshire primary results.

The popular Russert had agreed to squeeze Miller into his tight schedule of election updates on NBC and MSNBC. At the appointed hour, he slid into his seat in the makeshift Bedford, N.H., studio and put the earpiece in, only to hear unintelligible static. Precious minutes ticked by as the techies tried to fix the problem. Tension mounted. With time running out, the appearance was canceled, with Miller’s team taking responsibility for the technical difficulties.

One month in, the static in Russert’s ear is not the only indication that CNBC is having difficulty in making its ambitious transition from news to entertainment in the prime-time hours. Critics haven’t been kind to Miller’s hybrid news and comedy show, the centerpiece of this new strategy, which has been pretty universally panned. Internally, Miller’s colleagues haven’t been much kinder; one fellow staffer says the show feels like a “lonely room.”

Viewers have been a bit more generous. Through Feb. 18, the program averaged a modest 315,000 viewers in its first airing at 6 p.m. Pacific time, up 140% from what the show in that slot attracted in the fourth quarter of 2003, and 177,000 at 9 p.m. Pacific time, up 84%.

Elsewhere, a weekly chat show hosted by former Vanity Fair, New Yorker and Talk editor Tina Brown has gotten some good reviews, but not the audience. On Feb. 15, it debuted with just 20,000 viewers (although it was up to 61,000 viewers this past Sunday night). “Capital Report” moved back to an earlier time period to accommodate Miller and now finds itself competing for a similar audience from sister network MSNBC’s “Hardball”; there is buzz the show might not be renewed after the November general election.

The growing pains come as MSNBC is also trying to change its third-place status among cable news networks, hiring former ABC News producer Rick Kaplan to bring a more aggressive approach. The success or failure of both networks will ultimately reflect on Jeff Zucker, who in December added news and cable oversight to his previous role as entertainment president.

NBC executives say they aren’t worried about the glitches this early on. A second element of CNBC’s new lineup -- a nightly show hosted by tennis star-turned-commentator John McEnroe and an ensemble that some have likened to a male version of ABC’s “The View” -- won’t even launch until spring. In the meantime, the time slot (10 p.m. Pacific time, which previously had reruns of “The News on CNBC,” hosted by John Seigenthaler) has been filled by a series of interview specials hosted by ad man Donny Deutsch.

Despite this latest change in strategy, if anything, CNBC executives say they are mindful of the mistakes MSNBC has made over the years in quickly yanking shows that weren’t working, leaving viewers with whiplash and the channel with no identity. “Check back with us in six months,” says Thomas-Graham, noting she is “very happy with Dennis and the show’s performance” and that “he’s got our enthusiastic support.”

Last week, however, CNBC quietly brought in Steve Friedman, former executive producer of NBC’s “Today” show and CBS’ “Early Show,” as a consultant to the Miller program, which is produced by NBC Studios. Friedman says his role is to “bridge the comedy with the talk and make it a show that zips along, sings along.” After taking a weeklong hiatus next week, the show will return March 9 with a studio audience, so Miller won’t be performing “in a vacuum,” says Friedman. Miller’s comedy is “dynamite,” he adds, “but it will do better if there is more than just a crew reacting to it.”

Overall, Friedman says, the Miller show is off to a good start. “What you need is what they have, good talent and an idea, and then you’ve got to make it really good television.” He notes that “it took almost two years before anybody knew Bill O’Reilly was on the air” at Fox News Channel, where his show is now top-rated.

The CNBC changes come as the channel overall has grappled with ratings that have fallen in recent years along with the stock markets. In 2003, despite an uptick in interest in investing, the channel’s total day ratings were off 12% from 2002, to 188,000 average viewers, although its audience of 25-to-54-year-old adults, its target, was up 4% year-to-year. The prime-time changes are part of a strategic plan giving the channel to a single management team (NBC News previously had oversight of prime time) and a return to the days when prime time carried shows from Tom Snyder and Geraldo Rivera.

“We’re looking for things that are sharp and smart and a little bit lighter,” says Thomas-Graham, a former management consultant who’s been president and chief executive since July 2001. “At the end of the day, people are looking for things that are more entertaining, and edgier.”

So far, the changes have had one positive effect: The median age of CNBC’s prime-time viewer has dropped to 51.7 years old, from 59, for the season-to-date up to Jan. 26.

Thomas-Graham won’t say much about McEnroe’s show, except to note that there will be some live music on occasion and it will have more of a “late-night feeling.” The future of Deutsch’s show remains undecided. Thomas-Graham notes that the network is “very much in the mode right now of experimenting” but that “we like his approach to things.”

As for Brown’s Sunday show, she says, “We knew launching in February was going to be a bit challenging,” with competition from HBO’s “Sex and the City” and the Academy Awards, among others (CNBC decided Tuesday to preempt the show on Oscar night). Reruns in other time periods have drawn more viewers.

The show, she says, will likely stay on Sunday, but “it will be a slow build,” noting the program is also getting a promotional boost in the form of appearances by Brown on the powerhouse “Today” show.

Overall, Thomas-Graham says, “it’s early, but we feel good, there’s a base to work off of.” And in the “no publicity is bad publicity” vein, she even singles out New York Magazine’s review -- which summed up by saying, “It could be worse. (Actually, no, it couldn’t.)” -- as evidence that the lineup is achieving one key goal, to broaden the audience “away from just the New York financial world.”