CNBC TV Viewership Falls as Investors Become Complacent

Amid gains in the stock market, CNBC is seeing some losses in TV viewership.

Nielsen says that only 37,000 viewers per hour aged 25 to 54 -- a key demographic for the station -- tuned-in within a 24-hour period during August 2013. That's the lowest average for the station in 20 years and down 35 percent over the same period last year.

Peak viewership for CNBC was 162,000 viewers per hour in January 2002. That jump came just after the tech bubble burst in 2000 - 01 and before Internet news really began to take hold.

Nielsen data said that key programs being hit were Fast Money, Mad Money, and The Kudlow Report. In particular, The Kudlow Report had 20,000 viewers on average in the key demographic, down 53 percent from August 2012.

Rival Fox Business Network (FBN) had an average of 10,000 viewers in the key demographic, also down from the same period last year.

But, while FBN is broadcast in 60 million homes, CNBC is in 100 million, roughly 67 percent more exposure.

Despite the sharp drop in viewers, CNBC is slated to bring in $214 million in TV ad revenue, from $223 million last year.

CNBC might be making up the viewership with its Internet presence; data from July has CNBC.com with 9.8 million unique visitors, up 25 percent from the prior year.

What CNBC would really like is another set of volatile markets. With the Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all near all-time high levels, most investors and traders are just fine with their investments. That's another reason why January 2002 was a strong viewership year; people needed more information and CNBC was the best place to get it.