Stuck In The '70's
03-01-2006, 12:03 AM
From the LA Times.
The Overnights: Trump Busts on New Night
Does The Donald still love Mondays? Last week we skeptically noted Donald Trump's manufactured "feud" with Martha Stewart in advance of "The Apprentice's" switch from Thursdays to Mondays on NBC. The question: Would such a stunt help the tycoon plump the show's quickly fading numbers?
Nope. "Apprentice" bombed big-time at 9 p.m. Monday, rounding up just 9.8 million total viewers, according to early figures from Nielsen Media Research. The show placed fourth behind CBS' comedy lineup of "Two and a Half Men" and "Courting Alex" (15.6 million), Fox's "24" (13.8 million) and even ABC's finale of "The Bachelor" (10.2 million). The news was no better among adults aged 18-49, where "Apprentice" settled in fourth as well with a 4.0 rating/9 share -- far behind the time slot leader, "24" (5.6/12).
How bad did it get for The Donald? Well, "Apprentice" retained just 78% of the young-adult audience for the second half-hour of the game show "Deal or No Deal," in a business where anything less than 80% retention usually makes executives start hunting for replacement programming. (Remember how hot "Apprentice" was less than two years ago?) "Apprentice" performed so poorly, in fact, that it was a key factor in NBC's fourth-place finish overall for the night in 18-49 -- despite the fact that Fox had to contend with the low-rated finale for "Skating with Celebrities" (2.8/7). Overall, CBS won Monday among both total viewers (14.7 million) and in young adults (5.0/12). The night's most-watched show was CBS' "CSI: Miami" (18 million).
But maybe Trump can do more to promote the series. We bet Martha might have an open guest slot on her daytime talk show.
UPDATE: "Apprentice's" rating was the lowest-ever for a regularly scheduled new episode -- and this was fifth-season premiere, meaning it could get much worse from here on out.
The Overnights: Trump Busts on New Night
Does The Donald still love Mondays? Last week we skeptically noted Donald Trump's manufactured "feud" with Martha Stewart in advance of "The Apprentice's" switch from Thursdays to Mondays on NBC. The question: Would such a stunt help the tycoon plump the show's quickly fading numbers?
Nope. "Apprentice" bombed big-time at 9 p.m. Monday, rounding up just 9.8 million total viewers, according to early figures from Nielsen Media Research. The show placed fourth behind CBS' comedy lineup of "Two and a Half Men" and "Courting Alex" (15.6 million), Fox's "24" (13.8 million) and even ABC's finale of "The Bachelor" (10.2 million). The news was no better among adults aged 18-49, where "Apprentice" settled in fourth as well with a 4.0 rating/9 share -- far behind the time slot leader, "24" (5.6/12).
How bad did it get for The Donald? Well, "Apprentice" retained just 78% of the young-adult audience for the second half-hour of the game show "Deal or No Deal," in a business where anything less than 80% retention usually makes executives start hunting for replacement programming. (Remember how hot "Apprentice" was less than two years ago?) "Apprentice" performed so poorly, in fact, that it was a key factor in NBC's fourth-place finish overall for the night in 18-49 -- despite the fact that Fox had to contend with the low-rated finale for "Skating with Celebrities" (2.8/7). Overall, CBS won Monday among both total viewers (14.7 million) and in young adults (5.0/12). The night's most-watched show was CBS' "CSI: Miami" (18 million).
But maybe Trump can do more to promote the series. We bet Martha might have an open guest slot on her daytime talk show.
UPDATE: "Apprentice's" rating was the lowest-ever for a regularly scheduled new episode -- and this was fifth-season premiere, meaning it could get much worse from here on out.