Categories: OLD Media Moves

CNBC has best August in five years

Matthew Flamm of Crain’s New York Business writes Wednesday that business news cable network CNBC has had its best August in terms of ratings in the past five years.

Flamm wrote, “CNBCâ€™s business day, which runs from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., averaged 87,000 viewers in the channelâ€™s target audience of adults 25 to 54 years old, according to Nielsen Media Research. That number marked a 50% improvement over last August.

“All of the daytime shows drew their biggest audiences since at least 2003, according to the channel. Erin Burnettâ€™s ‘Street Signs,’ at 2 p.m., had the best August numbers in that time slot in nine years. Jim Cramerâ€™s ‘Mad Money’ had its best August ever.

“CNBC, owned by NBC Universal, has been investing in new programming over the last year, but executives acknowledge that the deciding factor in the August ratings spike has been the volatile economy.

“‘This is a really big story,’ says senior vice president Jonathan Wald. ‘This is when we should shine.'”

Read more here. Here is CNBC’s release.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.