OLD Media Moves

CNBC's "Squawk Box" ups viewers, has scoop

February 29, 2008

CNBC‘s morning show “Squawk Box,” with 67,000 viewers in the adult 25 to 54 demographic, had its best February since 2003 in that age group, and is up 2 percent from last February

CNBCThe show also had its best month in adults between the agees of 25 to 54 since April 2007. The increased viewers comes as other CNBC shows have seen a decline in that age demographic.

Also, “Squawk Box” broke major news Friday morning when billionaire investor Wilbur Ross on the show that he would invest $1 billion in bond insurance company Assured Gauranty.

Ross told CNBC the deal has been in the works for several weeks, and  described the investment in Assured Guaranty as “opportunity capital rather than damage-curing capital.”

“We’ve looked at quite a few of the financial guaranty companies, and the reason that we picked Assured for our first point of entry is a pretty straightforward one,” he said.  “The other ones, by and large, need capital simply to preserve their triple-A rating status.  Assured is one of the few that’s ranked as a strong, stable triple-A, even without our capital.”

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