By India McCarty
The Trump administration’s recent tariff announcements have sent the markets into chaos — and cable business channels’ viewer numbers through the roof.
“We are happiest when we tear up the show five minutes before the top of the hour. However, we’ve been tearing up the show in the middle of the broadcast,” Fox Business Network anchor Liz Claman told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week. “We’ve been moving things around like a chess board on steroids.”
CNBC and Fox Business both saw massive ratings spikes following the announcement of the tariffs, per THR, with CNBC earning 36% more viewers than the previous four weeks. Fox Business’ numbers jumped 15% from its March average.
Claman said the past week has been “insane,” adding, “We’ve been moving guests, canceling guests, adding guests — in the middle of the night, I’m waking up and texting my producer, my executive producer and my booker. We have a three-way chat, and all three of us are up at every hour of the night, and we’re like, ‘What about him?’ ‘What about this guy?’ ‘Let’s get this CEO.’ ‘Hold off.’ ‘Cancel him.’ ‘This one’s more important when it comes to what’s happening right now.’”
The tariffs being enforced by the US government have sent the stock market into a tailspin, and conflicting — and sometimes erroneous — reports have caused numbers to spike and plummet.
For example, CNBC mistakenly reported that the Trump administration was considering a 90-day pause on the tariffs for all countries except China. This news caused the stock market to jump, but it ultimately turned out to be false, attributed to an unconfirmed source who posted it on X. Reuters also ran with the story, leading to a retraction.
Reuters is officially withdrawing its incorrect report on a possible pause in tariffs, which used CNBC’s incorrect reporting as the source pic.twitter.com/77Xj8LETla
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) April 7, 2025
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“As we were chasing the news of the market moves in real-time, we aired unconfirmed information in a banner,” a CNBC spokesperson told TVNewser. “Our reporters quickly made a correction on air.”
Claman commented on the situation, saying, “We’re in an era, honestly, where everybody’s cutting and pasting off, not just illegitimate sources but legitimate sources. If I get something wrong (on air), it’s not [the source’s] fault — it’s my fault.”
“People trade on what they see on my show — I’m not going to take that lightly. It’s people’s money,” she continued. “I am, with my team, just virulently opposed to running with something until we double confirm it — full stop. We all make mistakes, but you cannot run something that’s going to gyrate the markets unless you are triple-sure of it.”
While the stock market’s unpredictable recent movements are causing stress for many around the world, cable news channels are surely celebrating what it has meant for their ratings.
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