TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
The Financial Times has an interesting article Thursday about business news channel CNBC and its value to Comcast in its acquisition of parent NBC.
But the story ignored the channel’s recent ratings, which continue to decline.
During the business day of 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., CNBC’s total viewers are off 25 percent in January to 233,000, according to Nielsen Media Research. The time period is Dec. 28, 2009 to Jan. 25, 2010, the latest data available.
During the same time period, viewers in the key 25 to 54 age demographic are off 37 percent, down to 60,000.
The same trend exists during the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. block as well, where CNBC’s viewership is down 34 percent to 183,000 total and down 27 percent to 83,000 in the 25 to 54 demographic.
The question that the FT article doesn’t ask, or answer, is this: Will CNBC continue to be able to make as much money, and charge high ad rates, if its viewership continues to decline?
