Cnbc

When it comes to investing, there's a perception that women aren't as active, and aren't as successful, as their male counterparts.That perception is wrong. Indeed, it's a myth.In her role as an observer of the world's capital markets, CNBC's Maria Bartiromo sees and understands that women are a powerful force in investing. Nearly half of all people with assets over $500,000 are women. And at least one study shows that they are more successful investors, more careful and more likely to do their homework -- netting them better returns than men."

Daisy Fuentes promises her new talk show for CNBC won't wade into the tabloid waters so favored by traditional talk fare."You will not see transsexuals who have gotten a sex change to become women and are now lesbians," Ms. Fuentes said the other day.Not only doesn't she want to make her viewers uncomfortable, she doesn't intend to make her guests feel that way, either. She just wants to find out "what makes them tick." And controversy isn't likely to be part of the mix."I don't enjoy controversy," she said.

Geraldo Rivera is coming to prime time, and he's got his sights set on Larry King's viewers.Cable channel CNBC yesterday announced it will launch a new weeknight talk show Feb. 7 called "Rivera Live." The program, which will go head-to- head with King six nights a week at 9, will feature Rivera reporting, interviewing and taking phone calls from around the country."If I had to describe it, probably the most simple way would be to say it's 'Larry King' meets 'Crossfire,' with a little 'Nightline' thrown in," Rivera told TV critics in Los Angeles.

ON AND OFF THE AIR:* Regular viewers know that the network weekday morning shows are among the most important promotional vehicles for new movies. It's pretty outrageous, in fact. Toward the end of every week, the stars or big-name directors of that weekend's film releases are all over the place on NBC's "Today," ABC's "Good Morning America" and "CBS This Morning."However, occasionally things backfire.Today's scheduled guest on "GMA," for example, was actor Bruce Willis, whose big, expensive new movie "Hudson Hawk" is opening this weekend.

CNBC, General Electric Co.'s cable news service, said yesterday that it had agreed to acquire the troubled Financial News Network for $105 million in cash.The surprise bid, which CNBC made privately Friday and was approved by the two companies late Monday, is reported to be $15 million higher than a joint offer made two weeks ago by Dow Jones & Co. and Westinghouse Broadcasting.Dow Jones and Westinghouse, which now could raise their offer, angrily told the FNN board that they were "disturbed that FNN had broken off our good negotiations."