History

Closing Bell airs on CNBC between 3pm and 4pm, Eastern Time. The program is anchored by Scott Wapner at the NYSE.

Maria Bartiromo was the original anchor of the show ran from 3-5pm ET until she departed from the network on November 22, 2013 to join the Fox Business Network.^[1] During the 4-5pm block, Maria said with the phrase, "it is 4 O'Clock on Wall Street - do you know where your money is?". Bartiromo's role was replaced with Kelly Evans following the former's aforementioned departure. Like her predecessor, Evans anchored the 4-5pm ET block. Tyler Mathisen was the former co-anchor from 3-4pm ET (originally from 4-5pm ET), until he was promoted in 2005. That same year, Dylan Ratigan took over the 3-4pm ET co-anchoring duties until his departure from the network in March 2009. Starting January 2011, Bill Griffeth became co-anchor after co-anchoring Power Lunch since 1996-2009 and taking a 1-year leave of absence. On March 12, 2018, Griffeth moved to PBS' Nightly Business Report to reunite with his former Power Lunch co-anchor, Sue Herera, while Frost (formerly co-anchor of Worldwide Exchange) replaced Griffeth as Kelly Evans' co-anchor of Closing Bell.

In 2012, Closing Bell moved to a new trading-floor studio set inside Post 9 at the NYSE, which is shared with two other CNBC US shows, Squawk on the Street and TechCheck (formerly Squawk Alley). On October 13, 2014, Closing Bell, along with CNBC's other trading-day programs, were launched in full 1080i high-definition as part of a network-wide switch to a full 16:9 letterbox presentation.

On November 30, 2018, Sara Eisen (also at the time, co-anchor of Squawk on the Street), who filled in for Kelly Evans while the latter was on away maternity leave, took over Evans' role permanently, with Wilfred Frost also co-anchoring both hours of the show with Eisen. By coincidence, both Frost and Eisen had previously co-anchored Worldwide Exchange for 2 years. Following Frost's departure on February 16, 2022, Michael Santoli became co-anchor and held that post until March 14, when Eisen became the sole anchor of Closing Bell, which itself had its runtime halved from two hours to one hour. Closing Bell: Overtime, anchored by Scott Wapner, replaced the second hour of Closing Bell, also on March 14.

On February 21, 2023, Wapner moved to Closing Bell, replacing Sara Eisen, the latter of whom returned to Squawk on the Street to replace Morgan Brennan, who in turn, moved to Closing Bell: Overtime. Jon Fortt, previously a co-anchor of the now-cancelled TechCheck, joined Brennan as co-anchor of Closing Bell: Overtime. Also on February 21, production of Closing Bell: Overtime was relocated to CNBC's Global Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Content

The program covers the last hour of trading in the US stock markets, covering the closing bells of the NYSE and NASDAQ Stock Market at 4pm ET. Bob Pisani provides live reports from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Scott Wapner provided live reports from the NASDAQ until becoming the host of CNBC Halftime Report (his role has since been filled by Bertha Coombs).

At around 3:50p EST, the segment “Closing Bell: Market Zone” begins. This segment includes the latest business news and what’s moving the markets that day, plus expert analysis until the close at 4P EST. This segment is divided into sections which are shown in a lower-third which shows upcoming topics along with a text box. When this segment begins, a sidebar appears on the right, showing the major indexes, and stocks moving the market. Along with that, on the top is a countdown clock, which replaces the one which appears on the bottom where the bug normally is and starts at 3P EST, and stops when the Market Zone starts.

After 4pm ET, the show's name changes to Closing Bell: Overtime and this hour features analysis of the day's winners and losers, company results that are issued after the close of trade, and other business news.

Current anchors

• Scott Wapner (2023–present)

Former anchors

• Maria Bartiromo (2002–2013), now anchor of Mornings with Maria on Fox Business
• Sara Eisen (2018–2023), now co-anchor of Squawk on the Street
• Kelly Evans (2013–2018), now anchor of The Exchange and co-anchor of Power Lunch
• Wilfred Frost (2018–2022), now at Sky News
• Bill Griffeth (2011–2018), now CNBC anchor at-large; was previously co-anchor of Nightly Business Report until its end in late December 2019
• Tyler Mathisen (2002–2005), now co-anchor of Power Lunch
• Dylan Ratigan (2006–2009), along with Closing Bell, formerly hosted Fast Money; he then hosted The Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC from 2009–2012; since then, he is no longer active in the television industry
• Michael Santoli (February–March 2022)