Fox Business ended the month of May 2020 garnering double-digit year-over-year growth across Business Day, Market Hour, and Total Day viewership while also delivering seven of the top 15 business programs on television, according to Nielsen Media Research.
As viewers across the country watched the coronavirus pandemic’s devastating impact on health, business and the global economy, FBN’s Business Day programming (9:30AM-5PM/ET) drew in 242,000 total viewers, and saw double-digit audience increases of 51 percent year-over-year in total viewership. During the critical Market Hours (9AM-4PM/ET), FBN was up across the board with 248,000 total viewers (+49 percent), while the network’s Total Day (6AM-6AM/ET) average of 162,000 total viewers saw an increase of 33 percent compared to May 2019.
FBN rounded out the month with all network programs seeing double-digit year-over-year audience gains in the younger A25-54 demographic. During the pivotal pre-market hours, Mornings with Maria (weekdays 6-9AM/ET) anchored by Maria Bartiromo nabbed its second highest-rated month ever in both total viewers and the A25-54 demo, while also seeing increases in total viewership (+49 percent) and the key demo (+75 percent).
Stuart Varney’s three-hour market-open program, Varney & Co. garnered 311,000 total viewers, seeing an 46 percent increase in viewers year-over-year and placing among the top 10 programs on business television. Additionally, CAVUTO: Coast to Coast (weekdays 12-2PM/ET) anchored by Neil Cavuto, Making Money with Charles Payne (weekdays 2-3PM/ET), The Claman Countdown (weekdays 3-4PM/ET) anchored by Liz Claman, After the Bell co-anchored by Connell McShane and Melissa Francis (weekdays 4-5PM/ET), and The Evening Edit with Elizabeth MacDonald (weekdays 6-7PM/ET), all garnered double-digit audience gains in both total viewers and the A25-54 demo compared to May 2019.
In early primetime coverage, the network nabbed double-digit growth year-over-year (+34 percent) and a 19 percent advantage over CNBC between 5-8PM/ET. Led by Lou Dobbs’ signature evening analysis program Lou Dobbs Tonight (weekdays 5-6PM/ET), the program continued its reign in the 5PM/ET timeslot for the second consecutive month with 284,000 viewers and a 13 percent advantage over the competition. Dobbs also saw its 53rd straight win over CNBC during the program’s 7PM/ET encore hour.
On the digital side, FBN continued to delivered audience increases with in-depth reports surrounding tensions with China and economic re-openings amid the pandemic driving traction across the website and mobile apps. FBN was also the number one business brand in overall social engagement among competitive business news outlets for the month, driving 4.7 million total social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, according to Socialbakers.