CNBC is a business news and market-data application for retail and professional investors, available on iOS.
Product velocity
Active
Daily rank 🇺🇸
#55
▼13News · free
Sentiment
4.7
628k reviews
Nemesis
Bloomberg: Business News Daily
The App DNA
What makes this app unique?
Users hire CNBC for real-time market context and expert analysis to inform investment decisions, relying on the app to bridge the gap between live broadcast and actionable data.
For Retail investors, financial professionals, and business news consumers requiring real-time market data and expert analysis.
What does it look like?
Key features
Real-time broadcast of CNBC television and audio content, including daily free previews
Exclusive access to Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust Portfolio, trade alerts, and live Q&A meetings
Early access to sell-side analyst calls, Pro Playbook, and exclusive investor reports
Customizable lists for up to 100 quotes per list, with real-time data and interactive charts
Real-time data overlays during live broadcast analysis
How much does it cost?
Subscription model anchored at $149.99/year, utilizing tiered content gating to segment casual news readers from professional investors.
Velocity
Active developmentUX improvementsperformanceopaqueShow more...
The app ships approximately 0.38 releases per week, placing it in the active tier. Development activity is stable, alternating between minor bug fixes and occasional feature-rich updates. While the latest release is opaque, previous updates demonstrate a clear focus on user-facing tools and security enhancements. The development team appears to be following a standard maintenance and feature-rollout cycle rather than a live-ops model.
Who built it?
Versant Media
9 apps tracked · News
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MS NOW: Watch Live NewsUser Sentiment
What do users think recently?
The recent review mood reads upset. Users appreciate system setting integration for light and dark mode preferences improves visual comfort for daily readers, but report live streaming functionality remains broken or inaccessible following the latest update for many cable subscribers.
How are ratings & reviews evolving?
What users say, by theme
- System setting integration for light and dark mode preferences improves visual comfort for daily readers
- Live streaming functionality remains broken or inaccessible following the latest update for many cable subscribers
66 of 66 recent reviews analyzed · high confidence · Upset overall
Read the full review analysisUnlock 1 user request, each backed by review evidence.
Access the full report for freeCompetition
Competitive landscape for CNBC: Stock Market & Business
How's the News market?
CNBC holds the #7 Grossing and #39 Free position in the US finance category. The disparity between these ranks suggests the app effectively monetizes a core professional base while struggling to convert casual readers into daily active users.
Read the market outlookThe rivals identified
By Bloomberg Finance LP
Bloomberg serves the exact same professional finance and market-data-driven news audience as CNBC, maintaining high-frequency release cycles to keep pace with market volatility.
- Integrates proprietary Bloomberg terminal data feeds that provide institutional-grade market transparency for retail users.
- Offers a sophisticated multi-asset watchlist architecture that allows for deeper technical analysis than standard news feeds.
- Maintains a premium subscription model that filters out casual noise, focusing strictly on high-intent financial professionals.
WSJ: Exclusive News & InsightsContender
Yahoo Finance: Stocks & NewsContender
MarketWatch - News & DataContenderUnlock the head-to-head verdict: where this rival wins, and where it loses.
Access the full report for freeThe Analyst's Read
Key takeaways for CNBC: Stock Market & Business
Where is it heading?
The business news category is shifting toward hyper-personalized, AI-driven content delivery, leaving CNBC’s legacy broadcast-first model exposed. Unless the team resolves the streaming authentication issues, the app will continue to lose digital-native users to more agile, data-first competitors.
- Persistent streaming authentication failures in the latest update drive high subscriber churn, which erodes the premium revenue base.
- Recent updates focused on backend stability, indicating the team is currently in a defensive posture rather than active feature expansion.
The SWOT
- Broadcast-first heritage provides unique live-video authority
- Tiered content gating effectively segments retail from professional investors
- Home screen widgets for market tracking
- Dedicated section for saved articles to improve discoverability
Next best moves
Rebuild TV provider authentication flow because streaming failure is the top complaint → reduce subscriber churn
+ 1 more prioritized moveThe counter-intuitive read
The high grossing rank despite broken streaming suggests…
Read the full takeFeature gaps
Institutional-grade terminal data (available in Bloomberg) +1
Since the last report: The app has pivoted to a professional-grade subscription model, but this transition is currently hampered by persistent technical failures in core live-streaming functionality.
Bottom line
CNBC must prioritize the restoration of live streaming stability to protect its premium subscriber base, because current technical failures are driving high churn, so the PM should reallocate engineering capacity from feature expansion to core authentication hygiene.
Unlock 2 critical frictions, 2 market threats, 1 more prioritized move and the analyst’s take.
Access the full report for freeReport last updated