FOX Business Network (FBN) remained the highest rated business network in the third quarter of 2025, nabbing wins across business day, market hours and total day viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Notably, FBN’s The Big Money Show overpowered CNBC’s Fast Money Halftime/The Exchange for the first time since launch with total viewers, while Varney & Co. and Kudlow marked 14 straight quarters as the top two business programs in television. Additionally, FOX Weather First, a simulcast of FOX Weather’s early morning programming beat CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange in the 25-54 demo during the month of September for the first time ever. CNBC, meanwhile, saw its lowest rated quarter in primetime viewers since 1992 and total day viewers since 1993.
FBN saw double-digit advantage wins over CNBC in business day (218,000 viewers) with a 42% lead for the fourth consecutive quarter, market hours (215,000 viewers) with a 37% lead for the third consecutive quarter and total day viewers (132,000 viewers) with a 36% lead for the sixth consecutive quarter.
FBN saw double-digit advantage wins over CNBC in business day (218,000 viewers) with a 42% lead for the fourth consecutive quarter, market hours (215,000 viewers) with a 37% lead for the third consecutive quarter and total day viewers (132,000 viewers) with a 36% lead for the sixth consecutive quarter.
Notably, every FOX Business Network program, from 6 AM-8 PM/ET beat its competition. Varney & Co. (weekdays, 9 AM-12 PM/ET; 267,000 viewers) and Larry Kudlow’s Kudlow (weekdays, 4 PM/ET; 261,000 viewers) were once again the top two business programs for the 14th consecutive quarter.
Varney & Co. posted a staggering 59% lead over Squawk on the Street/Money Movers and Kudlow secured a 95% lead over Closing Bell. For the first time since its launch in 2023, The Big Money Show (weekdays, 12-2 PM/ET) overtook CNBC’s Fast Money Halftime Show/The Exchange with 192,000 viewers, marking a 21% advantage.
Kicking off the day with pre-market coverage, Maria Bartiromo’s Mornings with Maria (weekdays, 6-9 AM/ET) averaged 119,000 total viewers notching a 40% lead over CNBC’s Squawk Box and delivering its 10th consecutive quarterly win. FBN’s Making Money with Charles Payne (weekdays, 2-3 PM/ET; 172,000 viewers) secured its first win over Power Lunch since 2022 with a 18% advantage and Liz Claman’s The Claman Countdown (weekdays, 3-4 PM/ET; 180,000 viewers) earned its first win since 2018 over CNBC’s Closing Bell with a 16% lead.
The network’s post-market program The Evening Edit (weekdays, 5-6 PM/ET; 187,000 viewers) saw a significant 72% advantage compared to CNBC’s Fast Money while The Bottom Line (weekdays, 6-7 PM/ET; 145,000 viewers) earned a 58% advantage over CNBC’s signature program, Mad Money with Jim Cramer.
On Fridays, Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street (Fridays, 7-7:30 PM/ET) saw an astounding 65% advantage with 86,000 viewers while Barron’s Roundtable (Fridays, 7:30-8 PM/ET) captured a 6% advantage with 66,000 viewers over CNBC’s Shark Tank/American Greed. Notably, CNBC saw record quarterly lows in primetime (98,000 viewers) and total day (97,000 viewers) viewers since 1992 and 1993, respectively.
September also delivered another milestone as FBN’s 5-6 AM/ET simulcast of FOX Weather First dominated CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange. Co-anchored by Britta Merwin and Craig Herrera, the program notched a whopping 25% advantage over CNBC with younger viewers for the first time ever.
***Below is the data according to Nielsen Media Research: Ratings for the third quarter of 2025
Business Day Viewership (M-F 9:30 AM-5 PM/ET)
- FBN: 218,000 total viewers
- CNBC: 153,000 total viewers
- FBN: 215,000 total viewers
- CNBC: 157,000 total viewers
- FBN: 132,000 total viewers
- CNBC: 97,000 total viewers
Sourcing: Nielsen, Live + SD. Big Data + Panel, 3Q’25 (6/30/25-9/26/25). Business Day (M-F 9:30am-5pm), Market Hours (M-F 9am-4pm), M-F Total Day (Based on each network’s Nielsen defined programming day). Business News Ranker M-F 5am-8pm Business Programs (Excludes Specials & Repeats).