Yeah, yeah, we know. It’s still early in the fall TV season. A lot can happen between now and May.
But it’s a bit different in syndication, where you don’t get much time to make a good first impression.
While the networks can always move their primetime shows elsewhere on the schedule (if they’re struggling), syndicated daytime (and nighttime) shows don’t usually have that option, since they’re contractually locked into specific timeslots.
So, with several weeks of sampling under viewers’ belts, we’re taking a look at three new syndicated shows — “The Queen Latifah Show” and “Bethenny” in the daytime and “The Arsenio Hall Show” at night — to see how they’re faring from a numbers perspective.
We’ve also included “The View,” which isn’t syndicated, but generated a lot chatter when it hired new co-host Jenny McCarthy.
“The bottom line is that nothing [in daytime] has broken out this season in terms of ratings, and nothing does break out anymore,” says Marc Berman, editor-in-chief of TV Media Insights. “In today’s [TV] environment, ‘respectable’ is good enough.”
With that in mind, we’re putting “The Queen Latifah Show” at the top of the freshman class. Encores are always difficult, but Latifah — who hosted a talk show back in 1999 — has managed to reinvent herself, and is this season’s top-rated new daytime talk show averaging nearly 1.8 million viewers. While those aren’t exactly “Oprah” numbers — Oprah Winfrey was pulling in upwards of 8 million viewers in her heyday — they’re good enough. “Latifah” also has the advantage of prime timeslots in major cities — including 9 a.m. on Ch. 2 in New York — so every little bit helps.
“She’s gotten sampled and is doing relatively well,” says Berman. “And the critics have been kind. She’s found her niche.” Elsewhere in daytime, “Bethenny,” hosted by former “Real Housewives of New York City” star Bethenny Frankel, is averaging only 1.2 million viewers (after two weeks) — a mediocre showing at best. “She’s been disappointing,” says Berman. “Everyone thought she would do better and that she would have great sampling. It’s still early in her run, so it’s yet to be seen what’s going to happen with her show.”
At night, Arsenio Hall’s “Arsenio” made a big statement its opening week, winning in viewers and key demos at 11 p.m. in most of the country.
Like Latifah, this is Hall’s second time at the talk-show rodeo, and he should be pleased: while “Arsenio” has come back down to earth in total viewers (1.6 million after two weeks), it’s still highly competitive with fellow late-nighters Leno, Letterman, Stewart, Colbert et al. in the advertiser-coveted demo of adults 18-49.
“Arsenio is doing OK in the young demo and competing well with the other late-night shows,” says Berman. “In terms of viewers, it’s been respectable.”
As far as “The View,” much ink was spilled when McCarthy was hired to fill the chair vacated by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. So far, viewers haven’t seemed to mind too much; “The View,” with McCarthy on board, has averaged nearly 3 million viewers — down 7 percent from this time last year (3.2 million viewers with Hasselbeck and Joy Behar, who’s also gone).
“‘The View’ is coasting at this point,” says Berman. “It’s not going to matter who they put in that chair.”