About financial television
Excerpt from; “The Independent Investor Guidebook” by Bill Cara
Depending on the level of hype, financial television can be classified like books: fiction and non-fiction. Bloomberg TV (International) and ROBTV (Canada) are clearly in the non-fiction category. They are head-and-shoulders superior to their competitors.
For short-term investors, Bloomberg TV is excellent. Not only is Bloomberg TV available to many investors on local cable television, it is available to anybody in the world via the Internet.
With a hi-speed Internet Service Provider (cable or DSL), you can subscribe to Bloomberg TV via Internet that is only about 90 seconds delayed from the live television real-time feed. The advantage is you can plug in from anywhere in the world and you can even select Bloomberg local real-time feeds from several different countries.
To watch live Bloomberg TV on the web go to Bloomberg Media
On the other hand, if you are a longer-term investor, and reside in Canada, you can watch the terrific ROBTV service on cable television.
From 5am-8am ET in fact, ROBTV carries the Bloomberg TV U.S. feed.
But, the remainder of the day on ROBTV is a treat to Canadian investors who prefer their all-day financial information televised with a minimum of marketing hype and spin. CNBC and CNNfn ought to take notes.
Like Bloomberg TV, the ROBTV service employs good looking, articulate and polished hosts. But where ROBTV absolutely excels is their programming that contains guest hosts selected from among Canada's leading professional investment managers.
All financial television networks employ such guest analysts but ROBTV's analysts are competent, straight-forward and insightful. They provide a maximum of quality information and a minimum of spin.
It's said that you get what you pay for, but that's definitely not true in the case of ROBTV. Or Bloomberg TV.
As to their media competitors, I refer to CNBC and CNNfn as financial entertainment television.
Investors have a choice. Do you want entertainment or do you want information? You really should know what you want.
Cartoon in Barron's: The family dog pleading to the bar tender at a black tie cocktail reception: "You know what I'd love? I'd love a bowl of mineral water."
