Surging CNBC Still Softer Where It Counts

CNBC just tallied its best week in five years -- but that doesn't mean its mysterious problem holding onto younger viewers is at an end.

In the month of March to date, the network's Business Day programming block is down 11 percent in a year-over-year ratings comparison among viewers age 25-54 -- the so-called "demo" that's of the most interest to advertisers. Some individual programs have seen even greater erosion: Power Lunch is down 20 percent, and Closing Bell is off 17 percent.

The trend is not across-the-board, however -- the 5 p.m. broadcast of Fast Money is up 14 percent over the same period last year.

As I noted last time I looked at this phenomenon, analysts says CNBC's overall audience is small enough, relatively speaking, that the slippage could be a quirk of audience measurement rather than a genuine drop-off in 25-54 viewership.

Here's what a CNBC spokesman has to say about it:

With March coming to an end, CNBC is having its best month in total viewers (329,000) in Business Day (5 AM-7 PM ET) since April 2001. In total viewers, March 2008-to-date is up 18% from March 2007 (280,000). In the 25-54 demo, CNBC is having its best month in Business Day since last March. This is ranking as CNBC's second-best month in the demo (only behind March '07) since January '04.

It is important to that note that these figures reflect only CNBC's measured audience. As you know, the vast majority of CNBC's audience isn't measured by Nielsen since Nielsen doesn't measure out-of-home viewing, where most of CNBC is watched in locations such as C-suites, offices, trading floors, restaurants and health clubs.