Imus debut is a ratings hit for Fox Business

In his first day airing on Fox Business Network (NWS), Don Imus did exactly what Roger Ailes hired him to do: attracted a lot of attention. The simulcast of Imus in the Morning earned an average rating of 0.3 and drew 177,000 total viewers, according to a source with knowledge of the Nielsen data. It was one of the most-watched programs in FBN's two-year history, and it marked a 1,500 percent improvement over the average rating of Money for Breakfast, the show that previously filled the 6 a.m.-to-9 a.m. time slot.

The viewers Imus attracted skewed somewhat older than the 25-to-54 crowd advertisers generally prefer. The bulk of the audience, 73,000 viewers, were between 35 and 65 years old. The source had no information on how much of the audience stuck around to watch Fox Business after Imus in the Morning ended. A network spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny the numbers cited above, noting that FBN is not publicly rated.