Nightly Business Report

Nightly Business Report
Presented by	Susie Gharib (1998-present) Tom Hudson (2009-present) Darren Gersh Diane Eastabrook Erika Miller Suzanne Pratt Anna Olsen
Country of origin	United States
Production
Producer	NBR Worldwide, Inc.
Production locations	Miami, New York City
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	NBR Worldwide Inc. (August 23, 2010 to present) Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. (January 22, 1979 to August 20, 2010)
Original release
Network	PBS
Release	January 22, 1979 – Present

The Emmy award-winning Nightly Business Report (NBR) is a Business news television magazine broadcast live Monday to Friday evenings on most public television stations in the United States. Every weeknight, Nightly Business Report distills the essence of what matters in the business world, and provides analysis and reflection so the news has meaning. In a lively half-hour, NBR empowers viewers to make better financial decisions.

The show is produced by NBR Worldwide, Inc. at public television station WPBT-TV in Miami, Florida, and distributed by PBS. NBR is hosted by Susie Gharib in New York and Tom Hudson in Miami, replacing Paul Kangas who left the program after hosting it for 30 years.

Format

The daily program consists of reports on the changes in the stock market, indices, and stocks of note for the day, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ, the S&P 500, and other major markets, as well as interviews with important business persons, generally CEOs of major companies as well as economists, market analysts and policy makers. Programs on market holidays depart from this format, and often deal with a single subject or theme. For example, the New Year's Day program often deals with a review of the markets during the previous year and a preview of the markets in the New Year; the Independence Day program often deals with a review of the markets at mid-year and a preview of the markets for the remainder of that year. The program usually concludes with a commentary from one of NBR's large stable of notables. The program frequently presents special series on business and industry topics. On Friday, Tom Hudson interviews a leading market strategist in his "Market Monitor" segment. There was a 15-minute morning version of NBR called Morning Business Report during the mid-1990s.

Current national sponsor

• Franklin Templeton Investments (and its predecessor, The Franklin Group of Funds)

Former national sponsors and production partners

• A.G. Edwards * COMPAQ
• Digital Equipment Corporation
• Bridge
• ExxonMobil
• Hewlett-Packard
• Kidder Peabody
• Mercedes-Benz
• Microsoft
• National Association of Realtors
• Pacific Telesis Group
• PBS Viewers Like You
• Reuters
• Wells Fargo

History

Nightly Business Report (NBR) is the nation's most-watched evening business news program. Distributed by PBS, it is carried by public stations across the nation. NBR is also seen around the world, and segments of the program are available online and through various multi-media and educational platforms. But its early beginnings are rooted in local television.

When Nightly Business Report premiered on January 22, 1979, on South Florida's public television station <a href="http://www.channel2.org" target="_blank">WPBT</a>, it was a 15-minute local program. At the time, few realized that it signaled the start of a new era in TV news, as television's first daily business news program.

The idea for a business news program had come from several businessmen on the WPBT Board. Linda O'Bryon, who was WPBT's News Director at the time, headed the effort to get NBR on the air. In the fall of 1978, she was approached by senior management and asked to create a daily business news program. She developed the program concept and expanded the editorial staff to launch NBR (then called "The Nightly Business Report"). Paul Kangas was among the first to join, signing on as its stock market commentator. Kangas always signed off each broadcast using his trademark phrase, "I'm Paul Kangas, wishing all of you the best of good buys!" (a pun on "the best of goodbyes"). O'Bryon and Merwin Sigale were the first co-anchors. The editorial/production team that launched the program included WPBT veterans Rodney Ward, Bruce Eibe and Jeff Huff, and Jack Kahn, who was the program's first producer.

Within nine months, NBR expanded to a half-hour. Buoyed by the success of the program locally and by positive comments from viewers -- both residents and visitors to South Florida -- NBR was offered nationally through the public television syndication service now known as American Public Television. On October 19, 1981, NBR launched on 125 public stations around the country. The first regular commentator on the program was Alan Greenspan, then a private economist, who remained as an NBR commentator until his appointment as Fed chief in 1987. A number of public television stations supplemented the program's newsgathering efforts by serving as "bureaus" for the program.

The timing of NBR's national roll-out couldn't have been better. Ronald Reagan moved into the White House and stock prices soon took off like a rocket, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average on a historic ride that took it almost straight up for the next two decades. The unprecedented bull market had a side effect -- it brought millions of new investors to the market and to NBR. Over the years, NBR's coverage has extended far beyond Wall Street. NBR crews have gone to the Persian Gulf, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and China.

In 1998, respected financial journalist<a href="/nbr/site/about/bio/gharib/">Susie Gharib</a> joined the anchor desk with Paul Kangas. Gharib anchors from the heart of New York's financial district, while Kangas remained at the program's production center in Miami. NBR is currently broadcast television's only network evening news program that originates from two cities on a regular basis.

Since March 2005, NBR has been part of the PBS national program service and its website is part of PBS.org. NBR is also seen internationally through Worldnet, the U.S. Radio and Television Armed Services network and on SBS Australia and Triangle Television in New Zealand. Audio of the program airs on Sirius XM satellite radio at 7pm ET. NBR operates three reporting bureaus with fulltime staff members – led by <a href="/nbr/site/about/bio/pratt/">Suzanne Pratt</a> in New York, <a href="/nbr/site/about/bio/gersh/">Darren Gersh</a> in Washington D.C., and <a href="/nbr/site/about/bio/eastabrook/">Diane Eastabrook</a> in Chicago – as well as bureaus in Denver, Silicon Valley, and Phoenix operated in partnership with the public television stations in those markets.

NBR's anchors and reporters have interviewed sitting presidents (George W. Bush, Reagan, Clinton) former presidents (Carter) and corporate chiefs -- ranging from Jack Welch to Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Alumni of the program's anchor desk include the late Del Frank as well as Dean Shepherd, Jim Wicks and Cassie Seifert. Neil Cavuto served as NBR's New York bureau chief in the late 1980s. Other notable people at NBR included John Defterios (now of CNN) and Neil Cavuto (Fox News Channel).

Over the years, NBR has received numerous awards. In 2005, <a href="/nbr/site/about/pressroom/emmy/">the program won its first national Emmy ® Award</a> for extended coverage of China's emergence as an international economic power, and in 2006 the website was honored with a <a href="/nbr/site/about/pressroom/ima_award/index.html" target="_blank">Best In Class award from the International Media Council</a>.<a href="http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/about/pressroom/rodney_ward_named/index.html">Rodney Ward</a> took the helm from Linda O’Bryon in 2006, serving as executive editor and senior vice president through 2011. O'Bryon is currently President and CEO of South Carolina ETV.

In 2009, Linda O'Bryon and Paul Kangas<a href="/nbr/site/about/pressroom/lifetime_achievement_emmy_update/">received the Lifetime Achievement Emmy ®</a> for their pioneering efforts in business journalism. The honor was a fitting close to Paul Kangas' legendary 30 year career talking stocks on Nightly Business Report. Paul's last broadcast aired Thursday, December 31st, 2009 on PBS. He signed off by wishing the audience one final "best of good buys."

In January 2010, <a href="/nbr/site/about/bio/hudson">Tom Hudson</a> joined Nightly Business Report as the Miami anchor, reporting on topics such as Federal Reserve interest rate policy, corporate governance and shareholder activism as well as providing insights to daily market activity. Prior to co-anchoring Nightly Business Report, he was host and managing editor of the nationally syndicated financial television program "First Business." In July 2011, Tom was named Managing Editor and Co-anchor, a newly combined position with both editorial and managerial responsibility.

On August 18, 2010, Nightly Business Report was acquired by NBR Worldwide, Inc., a private entity led by Chairman and CEO Mykalai Kontilai. The purchase marked the first time that a premier nightly news broadcast produced specifically for PBS and owned by one of its affiliates had been acquired by a private entity. Gary Ferrell, a former president and chief executive of North Texas Public Broadcasting (parent company of KERA-TV in Dallas, Texas), is the company's COO. The sale was first proposed in February 2010. As soon as the acquisition was complete, both became the program's new executive producers. According to WPBT, the station will continue to be associated with the show as a presenting station, and the sale reflects their assessment that NBR Worldwide Inc. has "the ideas and resources and potential to take it to the next level" and "can do more things with it than WPBT could." Rick Schneider, president and CEO of WPBT, said the staff and editorial team won't change and "Nobody loses their job as a result of this." Until the name changed, the program was carried under the "Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc." banner.

On November 12, 2010, NBR Worldwide Inc. announced a [1] of the Nightly Business Report staff. That restructuring resulted in job cuts for four on-air contributors, including Scott Gurvey (NY bureau chief), Stephanie Dhue (Washington), Jeff Yastine (Miami) and Jamila Trindle (Washington), in addition to four behind-the-scenes personnel. In that same month, NBR Worldwide Inc. also announced it would open a Silicon Valley news bureau, under the direction of San Jose-based reporter Robin McElhatton. On November 16, 2010, NBR Worldwide Inc. announced the promotions of Rodney Ward from Executive Editor to Executive VP of Special Projects. Ward's former executive editor duties were assumed by managing editor Wendie Feinberg, who was also promoted to VP/Managing Editor. [2] On July 11, 2011, NBR Worldwide Inc. announced the departures of Rodney Ward as Executive VP of Special Projects, and Wendie Feinberg, as VP/Managing Editor. In a press release, NBR Worldwide said the moves were "...part of its ongoing efforts to streamline operations and maximize resources." CEO Mykalai Kontilai said Miami-based anchor Tom Hudson would assume the role and title of Managing Editor, in addition to his current on-air duties. [3]

Theme

The theme and bumper music that was used from January 22, 1979 to January 1, 1988 was composed by Edd Kalehoff, also known for themes on other television series and game shows. The original Kalehoff theme was used from January 4, 1988 to November 15, 2002. Along with an update to the graphics and presentation, the theme was updated on November 18, 2002 and was used until January 1, 2010. A new theme, new logo, and new set for the show's Miami headquarters debuted on January 4, 2010. However, the 2002 theme is still used during the index of daily stocks presentation.

Ratings

The show reaches 530,000 viewers nightly with 205,000 in the 35 – 64 age demographic. Ratings had declined somewhat for NBR over a few years, leading to the show's 2010 reformatting.

External links

• Official website at PBS