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Gone are the days of only being able to obtain news and information on the television through the basic channels. Television watching has evolved significantly over the past several decades, going from turning knobs to change between the three to five channels available, to remote controls and hundreds of channels to choose from. Most individuals would say they are thankful they don’t need to walk across the room to change the channel, however many people feel that the quantity of choices on cable television has become too many to choose from, making it challenging to know what programs to listen to and which to ignore. Investors choose every day what cable news they are looking at, and those that they feel skeptical of. Investors are also looking for more from their cable news sources. What news sources are followed most commonly among Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) investors, those investors with a net worth between $5 million to $25 million? What are these ultra-wealthy investors looking for from their cable news sources?
According to recent research from Spectrem Group, Bloomberg is the most viewed cable news channel among UHNW investors, being looked at by 55 percent of these investors. Close behind is CNBC, viewed by 53 percent of investors. CNN and Fox Business are tied for the third most watched cable news channel with 47 percent of investors. MSNBC is only viewed by 34 percent of UHNW investors. Knowing what cable news sources they view is only part of the story however, as it is important to also know the sources that investors are most skeptical of.
It is not surprising that the cable news source that is viewed the least, MSNBC, is the source that is viewed most skeptically. Sixty-one percent of UHNW investors are skeptical of MSNBC. Over half of investors are also skeptical of CNN and Fox Business. The second most commonly viewed news source, CNBC, is viewed skeptically by 44 percent of UHNW investors. The news source most viewed, Bloomberg, is viewed skeptically by only 35 percent of UHNW investors. Despite being viewed skeptically by 44 percent of investors, CNBC is the most preferred cable news source, followed by Fox Business.
Regardless of what specific channel these wealthy investors are choosing to watch, there are topics that UHNW investors would like to see more of. The most desired topic among UHNW investors is stock market updates, desired by 44 percent of UHNW investors. These investors would also like to see more analysis of domestic and international economic trends, which is becoming more and more important to investors given the current state of the economy.
While many of these cable news sources report on similar topics, it is just done with a different focus, slant, or slightly different information. The wealthiest of investors look at a variety of cable news sources and each individual must come to a decision as to which cable news source aligns most closely to their own; although it is always good to seek multiple sources of information to be as broadly informed as possible from a financial perspective.
