CNBC ratings fall in May

A Benzinga blogger notes Friday that CNBC‘s ratings continued to fall in May.

The blogger writes, “The substantial stock market sell off in May, which was the worst in nearly 50 years, may also have contributed to lower numbers at CNBC. According to Nielsen, CNBC lost 14% of its coveted 25-54 advertising demographic during the business day (5a-7p) versus last year. CNBC’s post-market show Fast Money is down a whopping 17% year over year.

“Making the situation more interesting is the fact that CNBC has spent a considerable amount of money bringing in new talent in the wake of Charlie Gasparino‘s defection to Fox Business. CNBC also lost Dylan Ratigan to sister network, MSNBC. CNBC has added commentators such as John Carney, Amanda Drury, and Kate Kelly in recent months. Herb Greenberg also just debuted yesterday as CNBC’s Senior Stock Commentator.

“CNBC has long been criticized for being too easy on corporate management and for doing too much cheerleading, especially in the go-go years. Now that viewers have a wider selection of business channels to consider, it would appear as if CNBC must step up its game in order to retain its position.

“It does not appear as if the network is taking the ratings slump sitting down, however.”