Fox Business Network marked its 18th consecutive month as the leader in business news, according to Nielsen Media Research.
As market swings continued to dominate headlines surrounding news of the midterm elections, FBN’s Business Day coverage saw a 15 percent advantage over rival CNBC for the month of November, averaging 207,000 total viewers compared to CNBC’s 180,000.
In Total Day, FBN also scored its sixth straight monthly upset over CNBC with 146,000 total viewers compared to CNBC’s 140,000 a 4 percent advantage for the month.
Continuing its reign as the number one market program on television, Stuart Varney’s Varney & Co (9AM-12PM/ET) recorded its 28th monthly win over CNBC’S Squawk on the Street/Squawk Alley. Averaging 267,000 in total viewers and 26,000 in the key demo, Varney once again trounced the competition delivering a three-hour win over CNBC in total viewers. FBN’s market-close coverage with Countdown to the Closing Bell with Liz Claman (3PM/ET) also bested the CNBC competition, averaging 223,000 in total viewers to CNBC’s 193,000, continuing Claman’s reign as the highest-rated female business anchor on television. Together, Varney and Claman have dominated the most critical market hours coverage for 18 straight months.
While all of FBN’s core Business Day programs saw considerable growth year over year, FBN’s post-market coverage also posted notable improvements. Maria Bartiromo’s pre-market program, Mornings with Maria (6-9AM/ET) earned a pre-market hour win for the month in the 7-9AM/ET hours, outpacing CNBC’s Squawk Box with 125,000 total viewers in the timeslot. After the Bell (4PM/ET) co-anchored by Connell McShane and Melissa Francis scored its 18th consecutive monthly win over CNBC’s Closing Bell with 165,000 total viewers and nabbed its third highest rated month ever in total viewers. The post-market program also saw double digit audience growth of 17 percent over last year.
Additionally, while CNBC had its lowest rated month in primetime total viewers since August 2014, Trish Regan Primetime continued to deliver FBN’s highest-rated 8PM/ET hour ever. During the month of November, the program drew 208,000 total viewers, an 86 percent increase in viewership over November 2017 programming. In the live 9PM/ET hour, Kennedy also saw an advantages in audience growth by 9 percent compared to the same time period last year. Lou Dobbs’ eponymous program Lou Dobbs Tonight (7PM/ET) marked 35 months as the number one news program in business television and handily outpaced the business news competition in total viewers (374,000).
FBN delivered the top four business programs in total viewers for the month of November, with Lou Dobbs Tonight, Varney & Co, Countdown to the Closing Bell with Liz Claman, and After the Bell all leading the business news ranker in total viewers.