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CNBC’s Reign of Tariff

NBCU’s soon-to-be-spun-off business news channel loves a financial crisis, and this week its ratings rose as markets tanked. But that doesn’t lessen the challenges it faces as it gets spun off from its parentco.

Jim Cramer
To be sure, there is a very significant audience of retired septuagenarian Jim Cramer fanatics out there who are willing to pay for the latest insights from the perpetually hoarse and hyper-animated investment analyst. Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images
Dylan Byers
April 9, 2025

On Monday, while the financial markets were cliff-diving in anticipation of a then-impending, pre-90-day-pause global trade war, CNBC was drawing its largest audience in more than three years. In the hours surrounding the opening bell, it was the fourth-most-watched network on cable. During market hours, it beat Fox Business Network by double-digit percentages, and more than doubled its audience in the 25-to-54-year-old demo.