Mad Money is an American finance television program hosted by Jim Cramer that began airing on CNBC on March 14, 2005. Its main focus is investment and speculation, particularly in publicly traded stocks. In a notable departure from the CNBC programming style prior to its arrival, Mad Money presents itself in an entertainment-style format rather than a news broadcasting one.
Cramer defines "mad money" as the money one "can use to invest in stocks ... not retirement money, which you want in 401K or an IRA, a savings account, bonds, or the most conservative of dividend-paying stocks."
Mad Money replaced Dylan Ratigan's Bullseye for the 6 p.m. Eastern Time slot. On January 8, 2007, CNBC began airing reruns of the show at 11 p.m. Eastern Time, on Monday through Friday, and at 4 a.m. Eastern Time, on Saturdays.
In March 2012, the program became a part of what was formerly branded as NBC All Night in the nominal 3:07am ET/2:07 am timeslot on weeknights, replacing week-delayed repeats of NBC's late night talk shows. In that form, only the video for the program is presented in a smaller window on a 16:9 screen with gray branded pillarboxing and some windowboxing, with all enhanced business information, including the CNBC Ticker, removed.