Usually in the 12a - 2a (east), 11p - 1a (central) timeframe late Sunday night/early Monday morning, there is a mix of documentary reruns or Deal or No Deal or similar programming, then the next hour (2a-3a east, 1a-2a central) is infomercials.
For the first time that I've ever seen, CNBC was showing 'CNBC World' programming (Asian market action the first 2 hours, Squawk Box Europe the 3rd hour) during those 3 hours. The culprit? Mostly the sudden and huge failure of financial firm Bear Stearns, and it's fire-sale price ($2 a share?!?), and the aftermath. Other newsbits were coming in then also, but obviously CNBC thought this was a big enough story to cover nationally and globally. For them to break an infomercial block is likely unprecedented in recent years, at least. During the breaks in Squawk Box Europe, there were only CNBC promos and PSAs--obviously not enough time to sell the sudden spots to anyone in particular.
For the first time that I've ever seen, CNBC was showing 'CNBC World' programming (Asian market action the first 2 hours, Squawk Box Europe the 3rd hour) during those 3 hours. The culprit? Mostly the sudden and huge failure of financial firm Bear Stearns, and it's fire-sale price ($2 a share?!?), and the aftermath. Other newsbits were coming in then also, but obviously CNBC thought this was a big enough story to cover nationally and globally. For them to break an infomercial block is likely unprecedented in recent years, at least. During the breaks in Squawk Box Europe, there were only CNBC promos and PSAs--obviously not enough time to sell the sudden spots to anyone in particular.