Has Fox Business Found Its Star? Imus Premiere Gets Strong Ratings

breaking

by Steve Krakauer | 4:01 pm, October 6th, 2009

» 11 comments

Radio legend Don Imus premiered on Fox Business Network yesterday, and according to ratings obtained by Mediaite, the show was a big hit.

Here’s a look.

Imus’ show got an average of 177,000 total viewers yesterday morning from 6-9amET. The last time numbers were reported for FBN, their business day (5am-9pmET), the average was around 21,000. Imus’ total viewer figure was at least 1000% better than the previous program, Money For Breakfast.

At 7amET, the show had its best hour, averaging 202,000 (Glenn Beck was a guest that hour). Other big name guests yesterday included Sen. John McCain and Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi.

The show definitely skewed toward an older audience – with just 9,000 in the A25-54 demographic. In the 35-64 demo, the show averaged 73,000.

An FBN spokesperson, as has been the case in the past, would not confirm or deny the ratings, citing the Nielsen policy of FBN not being a full service client.

Obviously this is just one day, but it signals big things for the high risk/high reward move to insert Imus into the FBN lineup. For comparison, the 177,000 premiere rating was better than their business competition, CNBC’s Squawk Box, averaged during the month of September (and topped Squawk Box yesterday as well, which got 151,000).

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Don Imus, FBN, Fox Business Network, Imus in the Morning, Ratings

CaptainAmerica

You might have pointed out that the demos for Imus really don’t matter at all. He’s all about getting them more households/ license fees from those. That’s the beauty of those. Cable/Satellite operators don’t care your age when it comes to who is requesting those channels.

If these numbers continue, FBN could be up to 70 million households in one year instead of the two I thought it would take. They could be profitable by next year!
CaptainAmerica

Hey Steve, why don’t you get a quote from Keith Olbermann about Imus beating CNBC in the ratings =)

How many years did Keith say it would take for FBN to catch up to CNBC? Like 80 years or so?
http://mediaite.com Steve Krakauer

CaptainAmerica-

I agree that demos are less important for Imus, but they aren’t completely irrelevant.

And I agree – the total viewer average was huge, and beating CNBC is a shock. But it is just one night, the premiere. Let’s see how he does down the road, and if he can keep it up.

-Steve
CaptainAmerica

Were you able to tell if there was any spillover effect? Did it help boost other shows on FBN yesterday? Did Alexis have good ratings? Did it hold up and even help a show like Happy Hour?

Also, do you know if Fox had begun any big push to educate people where FBN is on the dial etc? Or have they only done the promos on FNC with the “Imus Is Coming” and they haven’t done much outside of that?
http://mediaite.com Steve Krakauer

I’ll look into some of these….
CaptainAmerica

One more thing I forgot to mention, was there any noticeable drop off in any of the morning shows yesterday? Was IMUS pulling Morning Joe viewers or Fox and Friends….or…. across the board?
Lurker

Can you post ratings for all hours on FBN?
StewartIII

ChickaBOOMer: Imus Puts FBN On The Map
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2009/10/imus-puts-fbn-on-map.html
am_underground

IMUS should have never ever been fired. MSMBC is getting what it deserves, with the likes of Matthews, Olbermann and Maddow, low rating. I’m a huge fan of Imus and he’ll bring what most people want, unpredictability.

As for demo, I’m 61 and he represents most of us boomers so I could care less if 18-49 or 25-54 watch. His best demo is the 35-64’s, and if anyone who’s watches the news will tell you, boomer have lots of money. Just hope it’s not all pharmaceutical ads, nothing puts me off as much as those ad do.

As for a bump, he’ll only continue to increase his share because when you look at his content it about news, not financial news. Yes they give way to a couple of Blond Bimbos for their few seconds of spill with his little banter but in most cases they bring nothing to the show. It’s all about him, an old, wrinkled codger who is not as dumb as what the NAACP wanted to portray.

Last thing, hopes he doesn’t have the wife and kid on all the time, boring.
Facebook User

“How many years did Keith say it would take for FBN to catch up to CNBC? Like 80 years or so?”

um, it was ONE day, Captain. dont get your panties in a bunch. when keith said that, he meant the actual average per month, not ONE day out of the other 30.
Facebook User

“Can you post ratings for all hours on FBN?”

no, lurker, they can’t because FBN is not allowing their ratings to be disclosed.