‘Money Talks’ Slick but Lacks Substance: Debuts to Poor Ratings

The production value on “Money Talks” didn’t disappoint.  The rest of the CNBC Prime new program seemed more staged than reality television, however (as if reality television is really real to begin with). 

“Money Talks” debuted Tuesday in a spot previously occupied by one of our favorite CNBC Prime shows, “Marcus Lemonis, The Profit”.  In a nutshell, we just went from the sublime to the semi-ridiculous.  Not to give anything away, but there was your must-have catfight since Steve Stevens is so wealthy running VIP Sports and all the beautiful women are bound to become jealous of one another.

Nothing against Stevens, who was found to been convicted of running a telemarketing scam some years back prior to the airing of this show, this just wasn’t the best viewing.  And, to be fair, we were sort of expecting “Money Talks” to be much better despite some authenticity issues.

Those authenticity issues include the simple matter that nobody who is anybody in the world of Vegas sports betting and handicapping has ever heard of Steve Stevens or his VIP Sports.

“Money Talks” is a well-produced show that, to some extent, paints an accurate picture of the sometimes-seedy tout service world.  This includes Stevens’ claim to have a 70 percent success rate making picks, which is right up there with most of the other Vegas sports handicapper claims that are rarely verified to be accurate.  The cast members all seem like actors with Stevens over-acting, from what we observed. 

The odds are against “Money Talks” succeeding.  Nielsen estimates that Tuesday’s premiere of the show about sports handicapper Steve Stevens averaged 127,000 viewers, including 65,000 in the adults 25-54 demo — 40% lower in overall viewership and 34% lower in the demo than the network’s year-to-date averages in the same 10 p.m. timeslot (212,000 and 99,000).

The good news is that “The Profit” has been renewed for a second season and will likely replace “Money Talks” once its initial run comes to an end.

By comparison, “Profit” spiked 21 percent from the prior week and stood as CNBC’s most-watched show for the Aug. 26-Sept. 1 frame.  Its finale viewership was 60 percent higher than that of “Money Talks” debut this past week.

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com