Saturday, July 26, 2008

At The Fox Business Network, Business Is Bad


The WaPo reports that the Fox Business Network's July Nielsen numbers are somewhat south of awful.

What on earth is the "Fox Business Network" you ask? That's the apparent problem: on average, only 8,000 (not a misprint) viewers tune in to the Murdock channel during the day, and only 20,000 tune in during prime time. (Here we pause for a moment of raucous laughter). That's like the whole population of Traill County, North Dakota watching during the day! Most excellent!

In contrast, CNBC draws numbers like 284,000 during the day, and 191,000 during prime time. FBN was launched with some fanfare last October, but has barely been noticed; we're betting the Nielsen numbers for Fox are the result of Murdock ordering his employees to tune in, or be forced to shower with Bill "Loofah" O'Liely.

(photo: Fox Network's Murdock contemplating showering with O'Liely)