The star of CNBC's Maria Bartiromo seems to be falling, eclipsed by younger, hotter Erin Burnett. All Cable Gamers grow old, of course--no shame in that. The key question is whether or not they can grow old gracefully. And that's what "The Money Honey" failed to do, as she has humiliated her husband, Jonathan Steinberg, in the course of swanning around with various other married men, including, most notoriously Todd "Taj Mahal" Thomson.
In other words, there's a difference between a TV personality who ages in "elder statesperson" status--like, say, Bernard Shaw or Lou Dobbs--and a TV personality who comes across as cheap and over-used. Like, say, MB, or Chris Matthews, or Julie Chen. Sorry, Maria, just as anybody watching Julie Chen thinks of Les Moonves, a anybody watching you now thinks of you on that long jet ride to China with Todd.
Here's a Page Six item on the cable catfighting, worth relaying in full:
CNBC might not be big enough for both the Money Honey, Maria Bartiromo, and the Street Sweetie, Erin Burnett.
Insiders say Bartiromo is in an uproar over her ravishing rival Burnett, who's begun to upstage her at the business news channel.
An inside source tells Page Six the Money Honey has been fuming that curvy Burnett, in addition to her duties as anchor of "Street Signs" and co-anchor of "Squawk on the Street," is getting substantial airtime on the "Today" show, which gives her a much bigger audience. "Maria is like, hey, why isn't it me on the 'Today' show? She's very jealous of all the attention Erin is getting," our source said.
Burnett's star is certainly skyrocketing. Broadcast & Cable magazine called the petite, blue-eyed brunette CNBC's "secret weapon" in its upcoming battle with the soon-to-launch Fox Business Channel, which is owned by News Corp., The Post's parent. Adding insult to injury, the trade journal quoted CNBC senior VP Jonathan Wald as gushing about Burnett, "She's a natural. She's both energetic and solicitous, but she never appears fawning."
Bartiromo is also said to be riled at a July 15 Post profile of Burnett which crowed that in less than two years she has blossomed from a relative unknown into Wall Street's sizzling media darling. Earlier this year, Burnett handily won a poll of the hottest financial news anchors on Wall Street gossip blog Dealbreaker.com. She got 37 percent of the votes while rival CNBC anchor Becky Quick came in second with 22 percent. Bartiromo only got 13 percent.
Some of Burnett's fans have even labeled her "Maria 2.0," while Bartiromo has acquired another nickname, "The Bank Skank."
Not only is Burnett nine years younger than Bartiromo, she also comes with less baggage. Last year, Bartiromo got caught up in an ethics scandal for globetrotting on Citigroup's private jet with its then-wealth-management chief Todd Thomson, who later got the ax.
CNBC rep Kevin Goldman denied any rift between the women, noting that Bartiromo has appeared on "Today" twice this week as well as once on the "NBC Nightly News." He said, "Maria is a major television star." And Burnett? "We like Erin, too . . . There's no issue." Meanwhile, Bartiromo will be feted as the cover girl of Hamptons magazine Monday night at the Friars Club.
