power lunch

As if a lot of TV viewers didn't already have enough ammunition against CNBC, they accidentally provided more yesterday afternoon.

During coverage of a live interview with Larry Summers, the financial network has to cut away because of video and audio problems. Just as they went back to the studio and anchor Bill Griffeth, a notable toilet flush could be heard. It wasn't just something that TV viewers heard, Griffeth stopped in mid-sentence and looked off-camera to figure out just what the heck was going on. Looks like someone who works there and had a mic on forgot to shut it off when they went to the restroom. It's been a weird year or so for CNBC. First the arguments and the odd interviews, now this.

There was about a year and a half when I was completely addicted to CNBC. It was the mid to late 90s, around 97 or 98, when I was starting to write more online and became fascinated by how technology was driving the economy and stock market to new heights. I remember having CNBC on all day along (along with CNN and MSNBC), and I loved seeing all the numbers fly by the bottom of the screen. Sure, I had no idea what any of it meant, but CNBC also had a lighter, pop culture bent to it that made it entertaining. I watched Power Lunch every afternoon, I waited for interviews with the CEOs of companies I was intererested in (like Steve Jobs from Apple - that was a big comeback story), and I even got to know the anchors and reporters (oh, Maria Bartiromo!).

Then the bubble burst and people didn't really enjoy watching CNBC anymore. And now it's really a shadow of what it used to be. But now two guys are trying to make it good again. Ex-Today producer Jonathan Wald and ex-60 Minutes producer Josh Howard have been brought on to pump new life into the business network. The duo plans more documentaries, as well as other big changes for the network.

What do you think needs to be done to CNBC to make it better?