Fox Business Network finished July as the most-watched business network, while rival CNBC had its worst month since 1995.
FBN averaged 174,000 Business Day viewers, which is essentially primetime for financial news networks. CNBC averaged 145,000, which is a 28 percent drop from July 2016, while FBN grew 17 percent over the same time period.
CNBC edged FBN among the key news demo of adults age 25-54 with an average of 25,000 compared to 21,000. However, CNBC lost 39 percent of year-over-year viewers while FBN grew 11 percent. In fact, July was the lowest-rated month in CNBC’s history among the key demo.
The month that featured markets hitting new record highs and the Federal Reserve announcing its second interest rate hike of 2017 was CNBC’s lowest-rated month in 22 years.
FBN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” was the most-watched business program, averaging 310,000 total viewers and 39,000 among the demo. “Varney & Co” was the second most-watched business program and has now topped CNBC’s timeslot competition “Squawk on the Street” and “Squawk Alley” for 12 consecutive months among total viewers.
FBN’s big sister, Fox News Channel, wasn’t too shabby itself for the month of July. FNC won the month and has now been the most-watched cable news network in both primetime and total day for 187 straight months.