Looks like CNBC might be running a bit scared.

As FTVLive has been reporting, the money channel has been in a ratings free-fall this year and it appears CNBC is digging into an old bag of tricks.

The NY Post says that the Englewood Cliffs, NJ-based CNBC is spending big bucks renting studio space in Midtown in order to set up its “Squawk Box” studio just two blocks north of the Fox Business headquarters on the Avenue of the Americas.

Competition is so tough, top business executives tell us, that CNBC is stepping up its haranguing of guests about appearing on any parts of the Fox Business lineup and has threatened these executives with banishment from CNBC if they appear on Fox first.

Booking wars are nothing new, but it seems some of CNBC’s hosts lack a team spirit, our sources say. “The culture there seems to be kill your colleague,” one person quipped over bookings. “They [the hosts] seem to think they’re more important than the guests.”

“When you are first in business worldwide, sometimes confidence is misinterpreted as arrogance, and if that were ever the case, we would certainly be apologetic,” said a spokesman for CNBC.