Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes Friday about the threat that business news network CNBC faces from Fox Business Network.
Fernandez writes, “CNBC, a highly profitable corner of Comcast’s cable-network empire, which also includes Bravo, USA, and E!, acknowledges the viewer gains at Fox Business and says its Trump-focused strategy has been brilliant. But it also dismisses Fox as no real threat.
“Despite the word business in the Fox network’s name, CNBC says, it doesn’t consider it a real competitor, because of Fox’s steady diet of Obamacare-bashing and political commentary, compared with CNBC’s CEO interviews and market-moving exclusives.
“In its view, Bloomberg TV – which is not rated by Nielsen – is its closest competitor.
“And as for Nielsen ratings, CNBC doesn’t use them. They miss viewers who watch outside their homes – in corporate suites, on trading floors, and at country clubs, hotels, and fitness centers, network officials say. CNBC bases its audience awareness on a survey by the Ipsos research firm showing that 17 million affluent Americans — those with household incomes over $100,000 — watched CNBC over a seven-day period, roughly double Fox’s number.
“CNBC spokesman Brian W. Steel said Wednesday that the network was the ‘number-one source for business news and information across all platforms.’ Globally, CNBC’s ‘business and general-interest money content is far and away the largest, reaching more than 270 million adults per month and growing,’ he added.”
Read more here.
