You really have to follow the money on this one and it's the long game the suits are going to be looking at. Ratings work in your favor ONLY if the reason your ratings are up isn't repellent to advertisers.
Example (and likely the most extreme one):
In the 1990's, Howard Stern had a Saturday night broadcast coming out of WWOR 9, the NY Market station in Secaucus. His ratings were HUGE. The guy was killing SNL. Admittedly SNL was NOT the powerhouse it was in the previous decades but it wasn't nearly as horrid as it is now so beating one of NBC's landmark properties was a real big deal.
So, Howard gets huge ratings...big deal. You would think the spots on his show would sell for huge sums and advertisers would be fighting for the available inventory. Just the opposite happened. No BIG brand wanted to be associated with Stern. What you had was an endless stream of "1-900" chat line ads and other local spots. People who were fans and had something to advertise were all over Howard's show. These were not the advertisers with very deep pockets. The program was destined to be yanked off the air for something more profitible and less controversial.
Strangely, the case is not nearly as extreme with The View. If anyone at ABC is thinking that giving Rosie control will turn the gabfest into an ATM on steroids, it may work out that way for a short while but it will backfire. It would be a sure way to kill the program more easily down the road but finessing O'Donnel out the door (as well as that could possibly be accomplished because people will still "know" why she left) will leave Disney/ABC with something that can live beyond Barbara Walters.
Those in control of that program's fate may be smart but they have yet to show that they are wise. Some fool thought it would be a good idea to take McCalls Magazine which had been in print since 1897, re-brand it "Rosie" and it would take off. She managed to kill in one year what had survived for 105 years.
Maybe it WOULD be a good thing to put Rosie in charge of The View....if you want the show off the air as soon as possible.
I like the way you think. May ABC steer O'D directly to the exit so The View can resume some semblance of "normalcy".