Larry Kudlow’s new Fox Business show, which replaces “After the Bell” in the 4 p.m. ET timeslot, drew 40% more viewers on its Tuesday debut for the network compared to the previous year.
According to Nielsen, Kudlow’s debut had 225,000 total viewers, with 34,000 in the key 25-54 age demo, in the first airing of the show at 4 p.m. ET (it runs a second time at 7 p.m. ET). The ratings also represent a 116% increase in total viewers and a 183% increase in the key demo compared to the same day last week.
During Tuesday’s “Kudlow,” the former Trump administration official and longtime CNBC host promised to put forward an optimistic vision of the economy with “fact-based civility and respect” and featured an interview with former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
But Tuesday’s airing also featured an early apology from Kudlow, who was caught on a hot mic saying “bulls—” multiple times to a clip of an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris during Fox News’ “America Reports” earlier that day.
Kudlow had been on “America Reports” with co-hosts Sandra Smith and John Roberts to promote his Fox Business show but took issue with the vice president’s assertion that the Biden administration was “starting from scratch” when it came to vaccine rollout.
As a clip of the interview was playing, Kudlow could be heard in the background saying, “Bulls—, bulls—, bulls—, bulls—. Unbelievable falsehoods.” Smith then said, “And that is Larry Kudlow weighing in” before the show went on to its commercial break.
Later during his Fox Business show debut, Kudlow apologized for cursing on air.
“Earlier on Fox News Channel, I made some comments about that clip. You might have read about it. If not, you can Google it. I may have said a bad word. I’m not usually a guy who swears, but what the vice president said just burned me up and is simply not true,” Kudlow said.
“I did use cuss words and I apologize and I won’t do that again,” he added later in the show.
Lindsey Ellefson contributed to this report.
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