Trusted Voices Win: CNBC’s Sullivan on Partnership and Why Premium News Still Matters
CANNES, FRANCE — At a festival overflowing with content creators, platform pitches, and AI hype, the case for old-fashioned journalistic credibility might seem like a hard sell. CNBC’s president doesn’t think so.
Speaking at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, KC Sullivan argued that media fragmentation has paradoxically made trusted news brands more valuable to advertisers, not less. With audiences “flocking” to CNBC “at the moments that matter,” Sullivan said the network is posting its highest ratings in over five years – a data point that cuts against the broader narrative of linear news in decline.
“In a world where there’s more and more content, and content is commoditized, trusted content and trusted voices are really what separate,” said Sullivan, president of CNBC, in this video interview with Beet.TV at Cannes Lions.
Building through partnerships
Beyond the newsroom, Sullivan pointed to partnerships as a central pillar of CNBC’s growth strategy – a way to extend the network’s journalism into the physical and digital spaces where its audience already operates.
“Partnerships are a huge part of our growth strategy,” he said. “It allows us to get to audiences and put our content in the places that matter.
“One of the most important partnerships that we have is with the New York Stock Exchange. We do a number of hours of broadcasting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, which allows us to tell our story where the actual market is being made, which is incredibly important.
“But we also do a number of events from the New York Stock Exchange, and the New York Stock Exchange has been a great partner in helping us tell the stories that we’re trying to tell.
“We want to make sure that our best-in-class journalism is being exposed to as many folks as possible in the way that they want to consume it,” Sullivan said.
The access argument
Sullivan positioned CNBC’s core value proposition around two pillars: access and trust. The network’s ability to put brands alongside interviews with business leaders and policymakers, he argued, is something social platforms and creator content simply cannot replicate at the same level of credibility.
“It’s access to business leaders, politicians, the folks that matter to our audience,” Sullivan said. “Trusted content and trusted voices are really what separate.”
He was also careful to define what CNBC is not. The network, he said, makes a deliberate choice to anchor its editorial identity in business outcomes rather than partisan politics – a positioning that may resonate with advertisers increasingly wary of brand-safety risks on politically charged platforms. “It’s about policy, it’s about the win-loss of business. It’s not about politics, right or left,” he said.
CANNES, FRANCE — At a festival overflowing with content creators, platform pitches, and AI hype, the case for old-fashioned journalistic credibility might seem like a hard sell. CNBC’s president doesn’t think so.
Speaking at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, KC Sullivan argued that media fragmentation has paradoxically made trusted news brands more valuable to advertisers, not less. With audiences “flocking” to CNBC “at the moments that matter,” Sullivan said the network is posting its highest ratings in over five years – a data point that cuts against the broader narrative of linear news in decline.
“In a world where there’s more and more content, and content is commoditized, trusted content and trusted voices are really what separate,” said Sullivan, president of CNBC, in this video interview with Beet.TV at Cannes Lions.
Building through partnerships
Beyond the newsroom, Sullivan pointed to partnerships as a central pillar of CNBC’s growth strategy – a way to extend the network’s journalism into the physical and digital spaces where its audience already operates.
“Partnerships are a huge part of our growth strategy,” he said. “It allows us to get to audiences and put our content in the places that matter.
“One of the most important partnerships that we have is with the New York Stock Exchange. We do a number of hours of broadcasting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, which allows us to tell our story where the actual market is being made, which is incredibly important.
“But we also do a number of events from the New York Stock Exchange, and the New York Stock Exchange has been a great partner in helping us tell the stories that we’re trying to tell.
“We want to make sure that our best-in-class journalism is being exposed to as many folks as possible in the way that they want to consume it,” Sullivan said.
The access argument
Sullivan positioned CNBC’s core value proposition around two pillars: access and trust. The network’s ability to put brands alongside interviews with business leaders and policymakers, he argued, is something social platforms and creator content simply cannot replicate at the same level of credibility.
“It’s access to business leaders, politicians, the folks that matter to our audience,” Sullivan said. “Trusted content and trusted voices are really what separate.”
He was also careful to define what CNBC is not. The network, he said, makes a deliberate choice to anchor its editorial identity in business outcomes rather than partisan politics – a positioning that may resonate with advertisers increasingly wary of brand-safety risks on politically charged platforms. “It’s about policy, it’s about the win-loss of business. It’s not about politics, right or left,” he said.
