Fox Business Network (FBN) is only a baby compared to its main competitor CNBC. FBN is only 4.5 years old compared to 23 years for CNBC. Many people believe that the network is not gaining viewers; however, the numbers tell a different story. At the Berkshire Hathaway conference, FBN won hands down with exclusive interviews with many CEOs of Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries.
However, the ultimate competition is primetime hour at 7pm. Lou Dobbs has been going head to head with Larry Kudlow of CNBC, and according to the latest Nielsen ratings, he is in a tight race.
The 7PM shows both focus on the political economy and feature two veteran newsmen. The Nielsen ratings for the month of May, showed Dobbs bringing in 30,000 viewers aged 25-54 (the key demographic group for advertisers), compared to The Kudlow Report’s 39,000 viewers. In addition, last week, Dobbs was even closer to Kudlow, trailing by only 3,000 viewers in the age group.
Dobbs has only been on FBN for just over a year and was practically tied with Kudlow for March and April. For parts of April and May CNBC split Kudlow’s hour with NHL playoff games which widened the gap between CNBC and FBN – but now that the games are over, and the race has resumed. With the election heating up and the economy the number one issue, the competition should be getting more exciting.
Below are some of the latest numbers from Nielsen:
Nielsen Ratings for the week of 5/21-5/25
FBN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight:
Household rating: .2
Total Viewers: 138,000
Age 25-54 Viewers: 26,000
CNBC’s The Kudlow Report:
Household rating: .1
Total Viewers: 143,000
Age 25-54 Viewers: 29,000
Nielsen Ratings for May 2012:
FBN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight:
Household rating: .2
Total Viewers: 127,000
Age 25-54 Viewers: 30,000
CNBC’s The Kudlow Report:
Household rating: .2
Total Viewers: 171,000
Age 25-54 Viewers: 39,000
