A "Scratch," as Cable Gamers know, is when a program gets below a certain number of viewers "in the demo"--that is, viewers 25-54. For CNBC, the "scratch" number is 51,000. Which is to say, basically, nobody's watching.
And that was the sad fate of "On the Money," and Melissa Francis, as CNBC tries to get its act together before the launch of Fox Business News next month.
As this chart shows, both "On the Money" and "Fast Money" were, uh, SCRATCH FESTS.
In September 2007, "OTM" scratched 64 percent of its airings, and for its part, "FM" scratched 48 percent of the time. So "OTM" was cancelled, and "FM" was moved--such a move usually a sign that a show is sliding toward the exit.
The Cable Gamer has no real criticism of "OTM" and "FM." OK, they're not so "on" and not so "fast"--and "Squawk Box," of course, is a turkey, too.
But the real dog--a rabid dog--in the CNBC manger is "Mad Money," which TCG simply can't watch, even with toothpicks holding her eyelids apart. And in fact, my faith in human nature was restored when I learned that "Mad Money" was scratching 70 percent of the time.
UPDATE: As TCG was processing this news--I am slow with numbers, and not much faster with graphics, I hope you can read my "scratch" chart, above--a trusted source suggested that maybe Ms. Francis was bounced because she had complained to CNBC management about the favoritism shown to money honeys Maria Bartiromo and Erin Burnett.
TCG gives this tip some credence, because it would explain why Francis' "OTM" got canceled while Jim Cramer's "MM," which did even worse, survived.
Of course, it's also true that Cramer is famous for being a suck-up to Bill Clinton and now Hillary Clinton, so maybe CNBC figures it's a good idea to keep him around for the day, if and when--probably when--that Hillary gets elected President.
Of course, the soonest that Hillary could take office is January 2009--So CNBC has to figure out how to survive until then, and not get scratched out of existence in the meantime.
