Fox Biz retains good chunk of Imus viewers

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Much has been made of the fact that radio show host Don Imus’ first day of simulcast on the Fox Business Network brought in 177,000 viewers.

But the idea behind the simulcast was to bring in viewers for the rest of the day. So, how did Imus do?

Nielsen data obtained by Talking Biz News shows that Fox Business had an average of 61,000 viewers for the business day — 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. — on Monday, the first day of the simulcast. That’s a 0.1 rating. Take out the Imus audience, and the Fox Business audience averages 36,000.

In comparison, rival CNBC had a 0.2 rating, according to the same Nielsen data. A Fox Business spokeswoman would not confirm the numbers, citing that the network is not a full-service client of Nielsen or publicly rated.

by comparison, in June, Fox Business was watched by an average of 21,000 people during the hours Fox deems its “business day.”

Fox Business hit more than 100,000 viewers in late September 2008 for several shows but has struggled to grow its audience. The hiring of Imus has been billed as one way to accomplish that task.