Newly minted talk show hosts Steve Harvey, Katie Couric, Jeff Probst and Ricki Lake have now had a month (give or take) to prove themselves in the daytime arena.
And, as everyone eventually learns in this fickle genre, it’s not easy winning the hearts and minds of viewers in such a cluttered TV landscape.
Coming into the new season, expectations for the Class of 2012 were varied. Each of the hosts entered the season with proven track records — though not in daytime (save for Lake).
So how have they fared?
As you can see by our grading system, Harvey and Couric have, thus far, led the freshman class — with Probst and Lake sent to the corner for failing.
(Trisha Goddard’s “Trisha” hasn’t aired long enough to be included here.)
“Steve Harvey is really the standout,” says industry analyst Marc Berman, editor-in-chief of TV Media Insights. “He’s proven that people want to be entertained in daytime with an escapist, fun hour that doesn’t deal with serious issues.”
Harvey, the likable comedian, entered the season as a question mark — a man in a time period where women are the main audience. His quick, confident success was something of a surprise.
“Steve Harvey” kicked off Sept. 4, a week before everyone else, and has averaged a steady overnight rating (1.5) and viewership (1.7 million for the week ending Sept. 23) — good news for the NBC stations airing Harvey’s show.
Couric famously jumped to ABC with a lot of expectations. One of the best known faces on TV, she needed to prove that five years as the lackluster anchor of CBS News was a fluke.
Her show, “Katie,” inherited plum timeslots on ABC stations nationwide. Thus far, she’s mostly delivered, averaging a 2.0 overnight rating her first three weeks — and a solid 2.3 million viewers, nationally, for the week of Sept. 23.
“Everybody was waiting in line to watch her fail and she’s not failing,” says Berman. “She’s not huge, but she’s holding up relatively well. She needs to bring in more female viewers, but she’s doing OK — she’s not a hit, but she’s not a miss.”
The same can’t be said of “The
Jeff Probst Show” and “The Ricki Lake Show.”
For Lake, it’s deja vu all over again, since this marks her return to daytime talk after an eight-year absence. So far, she’s been unable to shake off the rust — averaging only 942,000 viewers for the week of Sept. 23 and dealing with internal turmoil (the show’s executive producer was axed last week).
“Her problem is that she’s done this before and people might think, ‘Been there, done that,’ ” Berman says. “When Ricki exited the first time her ratings were down and she was losing steam . . . she’s not bringing anything new to daytime.”
Probst, the popular “Survivor” host, has found tough sledding in daytime so far. His show averaged only 909,000 viewers for the week of Sept. 23.
“My advice would be, ‘Don’t quit your day job,’ ” says Berman.
“I don’t think he’s necessarily a good fit in this environment.”