After a decent premiere a week ago, CNBC‘s new weekly primetime business-makeover reality show “The Profit” took a tumble in the ratings Tuesday.
Nielsen estimates that “The Profit,” in which entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis pumps his own cash into a struggling business in a bid to turn it around, averaged 56,000 viewers in the adults 25-54 demo in its second episode — down a steep 64% from the 157,000 it pulled for its premiere. It held up better in total viewers, but the show’s overall audience of 173,000 still represented a 32% decline from the premiere’s 254,000.
By comparison, in the month of July, stripped weeknight series “American Greed” averaged 112,000 adults 25-54 and 252,000 viewers overall in the same 10 o’clock hour for CNBC. And in the 11 p.m. hour during July, “Mad Money” averaged 41,000 adults 25-54 and 103,000 viewers overall.
“The Profit” is CNBC’s latest attempt at finding an unscripted hit, having yanked “Crowd Rules” in May after just two low-rated outings. “Crowd Rules” premiered to a mere 47,000 viewers, though, so by that low bar, “The Profit” is still looking OK.
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Overall for the month of July, according to Nielsen, CNBC averaged 77,000 adults 25-54 in primetime (down 3% from last year) and 196,000 total viewers (up 13%, thanks to a strong showing this year among adults 55-plus).
