Erin Burnett is basically the only competition to Maria Bartiromo for the title of Hottest Chick on Finance TV — if you don't count the Fox Business Network, where, not to insult our friends over there, but their understanding the difference between bull and bear was not the top hiring criteria.

Burnett receives an evergreen write up from Times TV scribe Brian Stelter, who points out that Burnett kinda just came out of nowhere and became an overnight success story. And that it was very calculated from inside CNBC. (This is a very nicely packaged tale. Its backstory might need more re-telling.)

But: Co-anchoring a program within weeks of her arrival? Currently anchoring three hours of live programming a day? How ever did such a woman of so few years (she's 32) get to do all that?

Oh, right, because she's hot.

As with any anchor role, looks play their part and Ms. Burnett’s striking features have complemented her hard work, smoothing her ascent. “There is an element of TV that is visual. You can’t deny that,” she says. “But you’re not going to be able to move to the next level without the passion, the contacts, the journalistic drive."

Nicely played, Burnett. Nicely. Played.

And speaking of diplomatic approaches, how to deal with the idea that she's frenemies with a one Mr. Bartiromo?

Some media outlets, meanwhile, have described a rivalry between Ms. Burnett and Ms. Bartiromo, with one labeling Ms. Burnett as “Maria 2.0.” “I think it doesn’t help either one of us, to be honest, because it imagines a conflict,” Ms. Burnett said. She described a “great deal of mutual respect” between the two, and said their different styles are complementary. For her part, Ms. Bartiromo called Ms. Burnett a great addition to CNBC. “She is smart, beautiful and hard-working,” Ms. Bartiromo said in an e-mail message.