Versant CEO Mark Lazarus said MS NOW is not experiencing the audience fatigue Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch recently described at Fox News. Speaking to investors Tuesday, Lazarus said MS NOW viewers remain engaged and its ratings are growing.
Lazarus suggested that some viewers may be leaving other networks and spending more time with MS NOW because they see value in its coverage. He also described the outlet’s Election Day coverage as a major event and said he expects its audience to continue growing. He added that Versant was not seeing fatigue among viewers of either MS NOW or CNBC.
The remarks came after Murdoch said Monday that Fox News had experienced “viewer fatigue,” contributing to ratings declines in the third quarter and October. He said viewers affected by the trend were watching somewhat less television rather than moving to other news channels.
The outlets’ third-quarter primetime figures moved in opposite directions. Fox News averaged 2.06 million total viewers, down 17% year over year, while MS NOW averaged 930,000, up 16%. Among viewers ages 25 to 54, Fox News averaged 183,000, a decline of nearly 25%; MS NOW averaged 84,000, an increase of 27.3%.
Despite the contrasting trends, Fox News’ primetime audience remained substantially larger than MS NOW’s. Murdoch attributed the decline in part to difficult headlines, while Lazarus said MS NOW’s audience was active and growing.
Sources: Variety.