right|thumb|Screenshot of [[European Closing Bell, showing the network's presentation style from 1 March 2010 to 28 March 2014.]]

150px|thumb|right|The CNBC Europe logo used prior to September 2008.

Consumer News and Business Channel Europe (referred to on air simply as CNBC) is a business and financial news television channel which airs across Europe. The station is based in London, where it shares the Adrian Smith-designed 10 Fleet Place building with organisations including Dow Jones & Company. Along with CNBC Asia, the channel is operated by the Singapore-headquartered CNBC subsidiary company CNBC International, which is in turn wholly owned by Versant.

right|thumb|European Business News TV (EBN) with Ed Mitchell, London, in 1996.

As the most viewed pan-European financial TV channel according to the 2010 EMS survey, the broadcaster reaches over 100 million households across the continent. CNBC Europe produces four hours of live programming each weekday and airs reports and content for its global sister stations and the outlets of NBC News.

History

1990s

thumb|right|The final logo of CNBC's NBCUniversal era. It is based on the [[NBC logo#2022–present|2022 NBC logo.]]

CNBC Europe began broadcasts in March 1996, as a wholly owned subsidiary of NBC. On 9 December 1997, the channel announced that it would merge with the Dow Jones news channel in Europe, European Business News (EBN), which had been on air since 1995. The merger took place in February 1998, upon which the channel then became known officially as "CNBC Europe – A Service of NBC and Dow Jones". The channel also aired on NBC Europe during the European business day until its closure in mid-1998.

2000s

CNBC Europe has leaned generally on the U.S. CNBC on-air graphical look in the past. However, in June 2003, it revamped a number of its programmes, taking many of them away from the U.S. formats. CNBC Europe re-launched its on-air image in September 2004, but instead of adapting the U.S. title sequences for programmes, designed all of its title sequences itself from scratch (while still using the U.S. music adopted in September 2003).

In July 2005, NBC Universal announced that it would be acquiring the Dow Jones stake in CNBC Europe, subject to required regulatory clearances. On 30 December 2005, CNBC Europe became a wholly owned subsidiary of NBC Universal. Dow Jones continues to provide content to the channel. On 1 January 2006, in line with this, the channel dropped the "A Service of NBC Universal and Dow Jones" tagline.

On 18 September 2006, CNBC Europe debuted a new graphics package, which is similar to that used by its U.S. counterpart (first seen in the United States on 19 December 2005). Like CNBC Asia (which debuted a new graphics package similar to CNBC U.S. and Europe on 30 October 2006), it elected to keep the previous theme music (CNBC Asia did so until March 2007). In addition, CNBC Europe also elected to keep its September 2004 opening titles for most programmes.

The channel adopted a new schedule on 26 March 2007 which included a new pan-regional programme, Capital Connection. New title sequences were given to Power Lunch Europe and Europe Tonight to coincide with changes to the form and content of those programmes, but unlike CNBC Asia, no other changes were made to the channel's on air look on this date (although Capital Connection uses CNBC Asia's new graphics as it is produced by that channel).

On 7 January 2008, the channel unveiled a revamped studio and new "lower thirds". The lower-third style was distinct to CNBC Europe, but adopted some elements of the CNBC U.S. style.

On 29 September 2008 the channel dropped "Europe" from its on-screen name, returning to the CNBC brand it had previously used for a spell in the 1990s. This positioned the station in-line with its U.S. and Asian counterparts, which are also referred to simply as CNBC. Some minor on-screen changes were introduced to coincide with the rebrand.

On 1 December 2008 the channel relaunched its flagship programme Squawk Box Europe, with a new look not derived from CNBC U.S. at all. At the same time a third line was added to the ticker detailing general news stories.

On 15 December 2008 the channel announced that long running show Power Lunch Europe would be removed from the schedule and be replaced, in both Ireland and the United Kingdom only, with a 12-week run of Strictly Money, a new programme focussing specifically on UK issues. This marked the creation of a new UK/Ireland opt-out for CNBC Europe. The new schedule aired from 12 January 2009, with Strictly Money remaining in the schedule until its cancellation in March 2011.

CNBC Europe debuted a new lower thirds, which were completely different from its sister U.S. and Asian channels, on 27 July 2009.

2010s

On 22 January 2010, the station ended its encryption on digital satellite television in the UK to increase its viewer footprint to an estimated 11 million households. The channel was subsequently added to Freesat on 23 February 2010.

A significantly revamped studio was unveiled in May 2011 along with a new format for various programmes.

The network was formally merged with CNBC Asia in December 2011 to form a new Singapore-based company, CNBC International, to manage the two stations. As a result of the merger CNBC Asia managing director Satpal Brainch was appointed to lead the new company, with his European counterpart Mick Buckley leaving his post.

On 31 March 2014, CNBC Europe launched in widescreen (16:9) and changed its lower thirds to match the on-air style of its sister CNBC Asia channel, which also launched in widescreen on the same day. The new look also saw the removal of the on-screen clock, which CNBC Europe had shown during live European and American programming since the channel was launched. This new on-air style did not carry over to CNBC US, which continued to use the old on-air style. CNBC US would ultimately follow with its own launch in 16:9 widescreen on 13 October 2014. An on-screen clock returned on this day (13 October) but it was a world clock with the time from various financial capitals shown on a rotating basis. CNBC Europe's on-air style (which was based on the US design used since 13 October 2014) was launched 9 March 2015, exactly a month after its sister Asia channel.

On 10 November 2015, CNBC announced cutbacks to its international television operation, including the closure of its Paris and Tokyo bureaus, and a two-hour reduction in local programming from London (which will be filled with more programming from the U.S. feed). The cuts, which will result in the layoff of 15 employees, comes as part of a wider focus on providing European market coverage via digital platforms, such as the CNBC website. The programming cutbacks from London took effect on 4 January 2016. Only two programmes, Squawk Box Europe and the European version of Street Signs (the latter debuted on the same day), are produced out of CNBC Europe's Fleet Place studios in London.

On 1 February 2019, CNBC Europe launched free-to-air in HD on Astra 28.2°E.

and 19 June 2021, change frequency free-to-air in HD on Astra 28.2°E to 12,168 GHz.

2020s

On 12 November 2020, CNBC Europe launched free-to-air in HD on Hot Bird 13°E.

On 9 September 2024, CNBC Europe updated its on-air presentation and branding to match the CNBC US branding that was first introduced on 11 December 2023. This was also CNBC Europe's first new graphics launch in exactly nine and a half years.

On 28 April 2025, CNBC Europe debuted a new weekday programme, Europe Early Edition, which is anchored by Silvia Amaro and airs from 7h to 8h CET. It replaced the outgoing Street Signs, which ended its 9-year run on 25 April 2025. Also, Squawk Box Europe moved to a new time, airing from 8h to 11h CET, with Julianna Tatelbaum joining incumbent anchors Steve Sedgwick and Karen Tso. New studio sets were unveiled as part of the new programme line-up.

Ratings

Unlike its American sister station, CNBC Europe does not have its ratings measured on a daily basis: the channel resigned its membership of the UK's Broadcasters' Audience Research Board in September 2004 in protest at its refusal to incorporate out-of-home viewing into its audience figures. The network instead focuses its viewership measure strictly towards the top 20% income bracket, where figures are compiled as part of Synovate's European Media and Marketing Survey (EMS). CNBC Europe's monthly viewership grew steadily from 1.7 million to 6.7 million in the decade after its 1998 merger with European Business News, with annual growth coming in at around 10%. was launched. This slot, which ran during the afternoon and evening, incorporated the already established weekend afternoon sporting coverage of sports such as PGA Tour golf, tennis and yachting with new programming which included travel programmes produced by the Travel Channel, output from The Luxury Channel, news and current affairs broadcasts as well as the airing of programs from sister channels, such as The Tonight Show and Meet the Press. In September 2010 CNBC Europe began airing a series of operas and ballets on Sunday afternoons under the title of CNBC Performance. The 20-part series began in September 2010 and ran until the end of January 2011. This programming was repeated during the rest of 2011.

Since 2012 CNBC Life began to be wound down in favour of a schedule more focused on its core remit of business programming and the lifestyle, travel and CNBC Performance elements started to be removed from the schedule. The CNBC Life branding finally disappeared in 2018.

Simulcasts of MSNBC

The channel used to air American news channel MSNBC during weekend overnights and during the afternoon on American public holidays. CNBC Europe also carried MSNBC during major non-business related breaking news.

By the end of the 2000s, CNBC Europe had stopped showing MSNBC and pre-recorded business-related programming replaced the MSNBC broadcasts. Coverage of non-business related breaking news now comes from CNBC U.S..

Simulcasts outside Europe

All of CNBC Europe's live programming is broadcast in their entirety in the U.S. on CNBC World and Europe Early Edition and Squawk Box Europe are shown on CNBC Asia.

The CNBC Europe ticker is seen on CNBC World but not on CNBC Asia and CNBC U.S.

Presenters

Current anchors and correspondents

thumb|right|Then-CNBC Europe journalist Louisa Bojesen moderates a debate at the 2009 [[World Economic Forum on the Middle East in Jordan.]]

Staff are based in London unless otherwise stated.

  • Silvia Amaro
  • Ben Boulos
  • Arjun Kharpal – technology correspondent
  • Charlotte Reed – also French and Spanish market reporter
  • Carolin Roth
  • Steve Sedgwick – also CNBC Europe's OPEC reporter
  • Julianna Tatelbaum
  • Karen Tso
  • Annette Weisbach (Frankfurt) – also CNBC's European Central Bank reporter

thumb|right|Then-CNBC Europe anchor Geoff Cutmore moderates a debate at the 2008 [[World Economic Forum: New Champions meeting in Tianjin, China.]]

Contributors

  • Tania Bryer

Past anchors and reporters

  • Becky Anderson (now with CNN International)
  • Beccy Barr (formerly Rebecca Meehan; later with BBC North West; left television industry in July 2019, went on to become a firefighter, died July 2024)
  • Joumanna Bercetche (now with Bloomberg Television)
  • Louisa Bojesen (left 28 April 2017)
  • Julia Chatterley (later with Bloomberg Television and now with CNN International)
  • Ros Childs (now with Australia's ABC News Channel)
  • Emma Crosby (now with Sky News)
  • Geoff Cutmore (left 2 June 2023)
  • Anna Edwards (now with Bloomberg Europe)
  • Raymond Frenken (was Amsterdam Market Reporter and EU Correspondent)
  • Wilfred Frost (later with CNBC US; left 16 February 2022, now with Sky News)
  • Yousef Gamal El-Din (now with Bloomberg Television)
  • Hadley Gamble (now with Al Arabiya English as its chief international anchor)
  • Arabile Gumede
  • Aaron Heslehurst (now with BBC World News)
  • Simon Hobbs (later with CNBC US; left in July 2016)
  • John Holland (was Frankfurt Bureau Chief)
  • Guy Johnson (now with Bloomberg Europe)
  • Shellie Karabell (Paris Bureau Chief 1999-2004; Time Warner Cable, Forbes.com)
  • Susan Li (moved to CNBC US; left in August 2017, now with Fox Business Network)
  • Willem Marx (now with NBC News as a London-based correspondent)
  • Ed Mitchell
  • Seema Mody (rejoined CNBC US in September 2015)
  • Stéphane Pedrazzi (now at BFM Business)
  • Nigel Roberts
  • Patricia Szarvas (now a moderator, media coach, writer)
  • Silvia Wadhwa
  • Ross Westgate (now with Infinity Creative Media)

Affiliate channels and partnerships

There is a feed of CNBC Europe for Scandinavian countries called CNBC Nordic. It shows identical programmes to CNBC Europe but has a ticker focussing on Scandinavian stock exchanges.

The channel also operates a separate feed for the United Kingdom. Before late 2008 this was used only occasionally, usually for advertising purposes. The network has since begun to actively market the feed to potential advertisers, The channel was reopened in 2024 with a new partner company.

  • Class CNBC (formerly CFN-CNBC), the Italian version of the network, operated in conjunction with Class Editori and Mediaset.
  • CNBC Arabiya, the Arabic version of the channel. Owned and operated under licence by Middle East Business News.
  • On 10 July 2007, CNBC Europe announced the creation of a new Polish business channel, TVN CNBC Biznes, operated under license by TVN. The channel launched on 3 September, and shares resources with CNBC Europe through a permanent link to their London headquarters.

In December 2003, CNBC Europe signed an agreement with German television news channel N24 to provide regular updates from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Correspondents Silvia Wadhwa, Patricia Szarvas and Annette Weisbach report throughout the day in German. In June 2008 the channel also began producing thrice-daily video reports in German for the website of Focus magazine.

In October 2022, CNBC Europe signed an agreement with the Greek newspaper Naftemporiki. With that agreement, the newspaper's TV channel, Naftemporiki TV, airs the CNBC live programming from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. and from midnight to 7 a.m. on weekdays.

Other services

CNBC Europe is narrowcast in London's black cabs on the Cabvision network. Since 2005, CNBC Europe also produces the monthly magazine CNBC Business (formerly named CNBC European Business) in conjunction with Ink Publishing. The magazine is aimed at senior business people and business travellers.

References