The official numbers of the Fox Business Network (NWS-A) won't start to be rated until sometime in 2008, but the numbers of CNBC show that FBN has already attracted some viewers away from them.
During the first four days of Fox Business Network's launch, Oct. 15 - Oct. 18, viewship for CNBC (GE) dropped across several metrics, according to Nielsen Media Research.
From the 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. time period, average viewership was at 257,000, down by 12 percent from the 293,000 watched from Oct. 8-12.
For the 9:20 a.m. to 4 p.m. slot, when markets are open, CNBC drew 308,000 average viewers, down by 4 percent from 321,000 for Oct. 8-12.
CNBC also dropped in its primetime viewership, drawing a 221,000 average for Oct. 15-18, down from the prior weeks' average of 256,000. That's quite a large decline.
Nielsen also reported that the day-basis from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. averaged 214,000 for Oct. 15-18, again down pretty big from the 237,000 average from the week before.
CNBC officials scrambled in an effort to find figures to make the impact of Fox Business Network negligible, but that was disingenuous.
At the same time, this had to be expected, as people, if for no other reason, will check out the new network to see if it is more interesting, entertaining and valuable to watch.
The next couple weeks statistics will give a better look on if the change in viewership grows, or at least holds, for the Fox Business Network.
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