CNBC’s Dennis Miller Debut Scores Big Ratings

Comedian Dennis Miller’s debut on CNBC Monday night drew a bigger crowd than the business-news network has seen in quite some time.

Miller’s eponymous 9 p.m. talk show, which featured California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as the first guest, tallied a 0.6 rating and 746,000 viewers, a triple digit increase over ratings for the 9 p.m. slot so far this year. The midnight replay posted a 0.4 rating and 486,000 viewers.

It would help CNBC if Miller can keep up this kind of number. In January, CNBC averaged a 0.2 in prime time, putting it in basement of Nielsen-rated cable nets.