Fox Business Extends Lead Over CNBC

FOX Business Network (FBN) has expanded its lead over CNBC, outranking the legacy business network with business day viewers while notching its seventh consecutive monthly win in total day viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. 

As markets reacted to the upcoming presidential election, viewers turned to FBN, which saw a 3% advantage over CNBC with business day viewers (9:30 AM-5 PM/ET) and an 8% advantage with total day viewers (6 AM-6 AM/ET). Additionally, all the network’s market hours programming (9 AM-4 PM/ET) placed in the top 15 business programs.

For the month of October, Larry Kudlow’s eponymous program, Kudlow (weekdays, 4 PM/ET) saw its highest-rated month since 2022, delivering 314,000 viewers and nearly doubling CNBC’s Closing Bell (161,000). Marking 18 months as the number one program in business television, Kudlow also continued to dominate the 4 PM/ET hour, besting its CNBC competition for the 37th month in a row. Additionally, Stuart Varney’s three-hour market-open program Varney & Co (weekdays, 9 AM-12 PM/ET) continued to crush the competition, beating CNBC’s Squawk on the Street/TechCheck for the 32nd consecutive month (FBN 221,000 P2+ vs. CNBC 189,000 P2+) and placing second on the business news ranker.

During the critical pre-market hours, Maria Bartiromo’s Mornings with Maria (weekdays, 6-9 AM/ET) drew roughly 100,000 viewers across its three hours and marked its ninth consecutive monthly win over CNBC’s marquee program SquawkBox. 

FBN’s additional core business day programs including CAVUTO: Coast to Coast (weekdays, 12 PM/ET; 133,000 viewers) anchored by Neil Cavuto, The Big Money Show (weekdays, 1 PM/ET; 132,000 viewers), Making Money with Charles Payne (weekdays, 2 PM/ET; 143,000 viewers) and The Claman Countdown (weekdays, 3 PM/ET; 151,000 viewers) anchored by Liz Claman all scored placements in the top 15 business programs on television. 

During post-market coverage, FBN’s The Evening Edit (weekdays, 5 PM/ET; 175,000 viewers) with Elizabeth MacDonald and The Bottom Line (weekdays, 6 PM/ET; 153,000 viewers) with Dagen McDowell and Sean Duffy each led CNBC for the 8th consecutive month. On Fridays, Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street (Fridays, 7-7:30 PM/ET; 95,000 viewers) posted a 64% advantage over CNBC’s programming and Barron’s Roundtable (Fridays, 7:30-8 PM/ET) saw a 9% advantage with viewers over CNBC.

***Below is the data according to Nielsen Media Research

📺Ratings for the month of October 2024

Business Day (9:30 AM-5 PM/ET)

• FBN: 191,000 total viewers and 10,000 A25-54
• CNBC: 186,000 total viewers and 44,000 A25-54

Market Hours (9 AM-4 PM/ET)

• FBN: 174,000 total viewers and 9,000 A25-54
• CNBC: 189,000 total viewers and 46,000 A25-54

Total Day (6 AM-6 AM/ET)

• FBN: 124,000 total viewers and 11,000 A25-54
• CNBC: 115,000 total viewers and 27,000 A25-54

**Program Specials Excluded​** Sourcing: Nielsen, Live + SD Oct’24 (09/30/24-10/25/24). 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).