"BEHIND THE COUNTER: THE UNTOLD STORY OF FRANCHISING" will premiere on Wednesday, December 15th at 9pm ET. The documentary will repeat that evening at 10pm ET, 12am ET and 1am ET.
The show will also repeat on Sunday, December 19th at 10pm ET.
"Behind the Counter: The Untold Story of Franchising":
In CNBC's "Behind the Counter: The Untold Story of Franchising," CNBC’s Darren Rovell takes an inside look at franchising and reveals the surprising realities –good and bad-- of joining a chain. We’ll peel back the curtain on Five Guys’ amazing success and see how it’s filtered down the supply chain to the one businessman, Rick Miles, who supplies all the potatoes that go into its famous fries. We will meet enthusiastic pet lovers who want a piece of the $35 billion pet care business and hope that Heidi Ganahl, founder of the Camp Bow Wow doggie day care model, will show them the way. We will explore why Procter & Gamble is dipping its giant toes into the franchising waters and hoping that a new chain of TIDE-branded dry cleaners and Mr. Clean car washes will increase its $79 billion in annual revenues. And we’ll look at how franchisees build up some muscle of their own, whether it’s through franchisee organizations or strong immigrant alliances. In the Midwest region, 90% of the Dunkin’ Donuts owners are of Southeast Asian descent. In the Mid-Atlantic it is similarly high. We'll take a look at how Dunkin' Donuts helped this immigrant group follow its American Dream.
In the franchise business, there’s no doubt that dreams can also become nightmares. We’ll talk to Don Sniegowski of Blue MauMau, the foremost franchise journalist in the country, who says that many franchise buyers don't realize that when they buy into the business they can lose more than their initial investment. Finally, we will talk to the Federal Trade Commission to find out why they aren't doing more to protect the unfortunate people who get taken for a ride into franchise hell.
About CNBC:
CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business information to more than 340 million homes worldwide, including more than 95 million households in the United States and Canada. The network's Business Day programming (weekdays from 5:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and also includes reports from CNBC news bureaus worldwide. Additionally, CNBC viewers can manage their individual investment portfolios and gain additional in-depth information from on-air reports by accessing http://www.cnbc.com.
Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://nbcumv.com/cnbc/.