Since her CNBC debut in 1993, Maria Bartiromo’s status as Wall Street’s anchorwoman has largely gone unchallenged. That is, until Erin Burnett came along. The host of Street Signs and co-anchor of Squawk on the Street, Burnett is being dubbed “Maria 2.0” by her fans, business bloggers are anointing her CNBC’s new superstar, and message boards are debating her merits and her makeup.

“It’s sort of a strange feeling. Honestly, it’s just little old me. It’s flattering,” says Burnett, 31. “Some of them actually seem like pretty normal people.” When asked about being considered the next-gen Bartiromo, Burnett says: “People always like to have rivalries. She and I get along, but we have different styles. I don’t know if the comparison is flattering [to either one of us.]”

Flattering or not, comparing and contrasting Burnett and Bartiromo has become an online pastime. Nielsen Buzz Metrics, which measures online chatter about various topics, shows comments about Burnett reaching a peak around the end of May, surpassing even Suze Orman, a much bigger CNBC star. The buzz isn’t just limited to the internet. Deere & Co. C.E.O. and General Electric (G. E. owns CNBC) board member Bob Lane says even he’s often pondered the Burnett-versus-Bartiromo question. “What makes them similar is their natural charm and being very dogged about an issue while being disarming and charming and making it a pleasant experience to talk about not-so-nice subjects,” says Lane.

For some, comparing business broadcasters may be a picayune endeavor. But for CNBC, the buzz over Burnett couldn’t come at a better time. The channel is girding itself for new competition from Fox, which is set to launch a 24/7 business-news channel later this year. CNBC will need solid ratings to fend off its new rival, and Burnett is certainly delivering on that score. The network reports that Burnett’s own show, Street Signs, is up in the highly prized 25-to-54-year-old demographic. During the second quarter of 2007, her audience increased 27 percent over 2006, according to Nielsen Media Research data. Squawk on the Street is up 79 percent over last year, the biggest improvement of all CNBC’s daytime business programming.

Compare that with Bartiromo’s troubled season. Once CNBC’s most bankable asset, she has now also become one of its most controversial. In May 2006, Bartiromo was pilloried for her market-roiling scoop that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke felt his comments to the market where being misinterpreted. Bernanke supposedly made the comments at an off-the-record event, though Bartiromo said they were for attribution. Then in January 2007, Bartiromo’s jet-setting friendship with Citigroup executive Todd Thomson was picked apart in the press.

While CNBC stood by Bartiromo throughout each incident, it’s clear the channel is looking to promote its other broadcasters as well. “It wouldn’t be the worst idea for CNBC to start thinking about a successor to the their ‘superstar’ anchor,” wrote Scott Warheit, a former Detroit News columnist whose blog, Quo Vadimus, has a place for people to comment on his “Burnett versus Bartiromo” debate.

Whether Burnett will eclipse Bartiromo is yet to be seen. But it’s hard to argue Burnett’s considerable bona fides. A former mergers and acquisitions investment-banking analyst with Goldman Sachs, Burnett got her entrée to TV journalism after writing a fan letter to former CNN anchor Willow Bay, who hired her as an assistant. She later became a writer and booker for the likes of Lou Dobbs and Fox News’ Stuart Varney before departing to CitiMedia/Citigroup to launch an in-house news network as a vice president. There she interviewed thousands of business executives and realized she loved it. “I had my eureka moment there,” she says.

With her trademark giraffe-print wrap dresses and puffy-sleeved Tory Burch blouses, Burnett cuts a conspicuous figure on both CNBC and the New York Stock Exchange (where Squawk on the Street is taped). Having her own show, Street Signs, she says, is a huge opportunity. “It gives me a chance to have on people who are insightful about what’s going on. I like to focus on C.E.O.’s and get a real in-depth interview,” she says. Burnett has done exactly that. Among her on-air gets was an interview with Citigroup C.O.O. Bob Druskin, whom she got to comment about a set of huge layoffs the company had not yet made public. She also managed the first interview with Bill McGuire, the former C.E.O. of UnitedHealth who notoriously walked away with $1.6 billion worth of options in December.

Says Burnett: “Longer term, I’d love to have a format where movers and shakers could talk, people who the world cares about; C.E.O.’s, presidents, and Angelina Jolie. It’s not Larry King, it’s more Charlie Rose with high energy for the new generation.”

As for being Maria 2.0? “I’m just myself on camera.”