Insomniacs have a new friend — CNBC screamer Jim Cramer.
Our research wonks noticed something weird when combing through Nielsen overnight numbers recently. Cramer’s “Mad Money,” one of the most-hyped shows on CNBC, gets a larger audience when rebroadcast in the predawn hours on the NBC network than during its live 6 p.m. airing on the business cable channel.
Our completely uninformed sources speculate that Wall Street traders are probably crawling home from clubbing at that hour and, while checking their computers for the latest on the Asian markets, have Cramer on the TV for background noise.
NBC first started airing “Mad Money” at 3 a.m. in March and whaddya know — the manic stock picker has an average audience so far of 400,000.
The 57-year-old former Goldman Sachs trader attracts just 187,000 viewers on his CNBC show.
David Scardino, programming analyst at ad agency RPA, said: “It may show the staying power of a broadcast network versus a cable network. I’m surprised, but it makes you wonder how many people have fallen asleep with the TV on.” –Claire Atkinson
Taxing situation
Disgraced former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski may get an unwanted visit from the tax man.
Palm Beach County, Fla., officials are investigating a property tax break the felon has been getting on his Boca Raton mansion since 2002, The Post has learned.
Kozlowksi has been benefiting from a so-called homestead exemption that he applied for as part of a married couple — together with his then-wife Karen Mayo — shortly after he bought the waterfront mansion in 2001.
The couple divorced in 2008, raising questions among local authorities about whether the tax break still applies.
The homestead exemption allows for a lower property-tax rate. Losing the exemption could increase his tax bill and could bring the tax man looking for thousands of dollars in back taxes, experts said.
Authorities are looking into whether Mayo still jointly owns the property and lives there permanently. The ex-wife claims she does.
“Yes it is. That’s where I live,” Mayo told The Post when she was reached by phone. –Kaja Whitehouse
Act II
Life just got a little easier for aspiring actors.
Theater magazine “Backstage” is shrinking with the issue that hit newsstands Thursday — which means it’ll be easier to carry around to auditions.
The old version was 11.5 inches by 15 inches — while the redo is closer in size to a standard magazine format.
“It’s money-saving, but it’s also what our readers want,” said Backstage CEO John Amato, of the reduced trim size.
The website is also getting an overhaul under its newly arrived vice president of digital, David Grossman, and the weekly’s executive editor, Dan Halloway.
“We want to make the print and online product more cohesive,” said Amato, a former taxi-ad mogul, who took over the magazine from Prometheus Global Media last October — although Prometheus remains a partner in a joint venture that now runs it.
Since the spinoff, he said, Web traffic is up 60 percent, to 1.3 million unique visitors a month. Despite that, he has no intention of dropping the casting call listings from the print version — since actors like to carry it on calls.–Keith J. Kelly
Kellys care
Author John Kelly autographed a copy of his just- released book, “The Graves are Walking,” for Jilly Stephens, executive director of City Harvest, at the Kelly Gang’s summer get-together at Graydon Carter’s Waverly Inn Wednesday night.
NYPD top cop Ray Kelly and Kelly Gang president Ed Kelly — whose day job is CEO of American Express Publishing — presented a $35,000 check to Stephens from funds raised at the gang’s springtime charity event.
The book is about the famine in 19th century Ireland that wiped out 1 million inhabitants and forced another 2 million to emigrate.
Stephens said the funds would go toward the Skip Lunch Fight Hunger campaign, which provides meals to kids when school is out.–Keith J. Kelly