Fox Business Network’s, Lou Dobbs Tonight, continues to maintain its lead in rating rivalry over CNBC’s The Kudlow Report. Right from the beginning of July, CNBC has been losing share to Lou Dobbs Tonight, which surprised everyone by emerging numero uno in the first week of July, despite Lou Dobbs being off the show.
For the week July 16 through July 20, Dobbs beat Kudlow by 32% in the demo (Age group 25-54) where Dobbs had 50,000 viewers against 38,000 of Kudlow. Though Kudlow did have a 5000 lead in total viewers this week, the total viewership for Dobbs in July so far is higher than Kudlow, because FBN had already beaten Kudlow with a fair margin in the first two weeks of July.
The 7 pm show is crucial for TV channels, because it is the connecting link between business programs and primetime shows. The data clearly indicates that 23-year old CNBC is losing market share, albeit slowly, to Fox Business Network.
Baffled CNBC is now trying to improve its ratings by bringing in as many as seven primetime shows. These will be general, entertainment based shows – Fakes & Forgeries, Franchised, American Steel, Flipping Wars: Vegas, At Your Service, Outstanding and Venture Men. These are all working titles.
“Exploring new formats in primetime allows us to find new ways to attract a broader viewership at night, while still appealing to CNBC’s highly affluent, educated and influential audience,” said Jim Ackerman, SVP of Primetime Alternative Programming at CNBC. “These projects are an extension of CNBC’s distinct brand, complete with bold characters, big stakes and of course, one undeniable common denominator…money.”
What does it mean? Is CNBC losing hope with The Kudlow Report?