Watch CNBC Europe Live Stream

CNBC Europe features the simplified image of a peacock with the rainbow tail as its ident. The peacock is a long-standing mascot and later the identity of NBC, the parent American broadcasting company that chose it back in 1956 as a symbol of the improved colour television.

CNBC Europe was launched in 1996 as an NBC subsidiary with its headquarters in London. The channel’s full name is Consumer News and Business Channel Europe, and it broadcasts business and finance related news across Europe. Its feed consists of the US and London-produced content presented alternately.

Unlike American channels, CNBC Europe does not measure its viewership per every viewer on a daily basis. Instead, the channel evaluates its rating on a monthly basis and accounts for viewership coming from audiences in the top 20% income brackets. According to this method, the channel’s outreach is around 7 million viewers.

In 2010, the channel cancelled the satellite encryption and made its programming available to approximately 11 million homes in the UK. To further simplify the access, the channel was added to the Freesat package.

CNBC Europe has partnered with Cabvision (the service providing digital screens and entertainment content for taxi cars) to become part of the content package. The channel can be accessed in London’s black cabs during the rides.

CNBC Europe has been running its own magazine CNBC Business since 2005. The magazine is created in partnership with Ink Publishing and targets business travellers and readers in top business positions.

From 2008 to 2018, the channel featured the weekend programming strand CNBC Life that presented sports coverage, travel programming, current affair bulletins, talk shows, and later, airing of recorded operas and ballets. In 2018, this strand was cancelled to give more time to the channel’s core content.

At the start of its operations, CNBC Europe dedicated a significant number of night hours to teleshopping, mostly broadcasted on weekends. Around 2010, teleshopping was removed from the schedule altogether.

In 2019, CNBC Europe launched its free-to-air HD version on Astra. Additionally, in 2020, CNBC Europe HD was made available on Hot Bird.

In 2015, CNBC acknowledged the significant cuts in funding for international content, which led to studios in Paris and Tokyo being closed and London-produced programming reduced by two hours. As a result, only two current programs, Squawk Box Europe and Street Signs (Europe) are actually produced in London.