Posted on 09/14/2004 6:00:41 PM PDT by KneelBeforeZod
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After a respectable debut, freshman talker "The Jane Pauley Show" has suffered a hefty slide in its ratings.
The veteran newswoman's foray into the daytime wars averaged a 1.7 household rating/5 share in Nielsen Media Research's top 54 "metered" markets last week -- its second week on the air. That's down 11% from its first week (the frame ending Sept. 5), when the first-run syndicated strip averaged a 1.9/6. The show premiered Aug. 30 with an average 2.4/7 in the top markets.
"Jane's" performance last week was down 26% from the year-ago time period average of a 2.3/7 for its station affiliates and down 35% from its lead-in average of a 2.6/8.
The show's distributor, NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution, said it was pleased with the initial results and expected ratings to grow as summer turns into fall and more viewers watch television.
"We launched in an unconventional time of the year -- in late summer, when lifestyles are different," said Sean O'Boyle, senior vp and general sales manager at the studio. "We also have strong bookings coming up and continued relevant subject matter, and we'll continue to grow. You can't define a show in two weeks."
In its second week, "Jane" failed to crack the key 1.0 rating mark in New York and Los Angeles, but the show is performing well other markets, such as Detroit, St. Louis and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Elsewhere in syndication, sophomore talker "The Ellen DeGeneres (news) Show" averaged a 2.8/8 in the top markets last week. That's up 12% from the year-ago time period average of a 2.5/7 and up 4% from its lead-in average of a 2.7/8.
"Live With Regis and Kelly" averaged a 4.0/13 last week in the first week of its 18th season. That figure marked a 3% increase from both the year-ago time period average (3.9/14) and lead-in average (3.9/13).
Meanwhile, "Jeopardy!" is still benefiting from contestant Ken Jennings' winning streak. The game show averaged an 8.9/17 last week in its 21st-season-premiere week. That's up 37% from the year-ago time period average of a 6.5/12 and up 39% from its lead-in average of a 6.4/13.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
By Dilbert!
Huh?
She has a show?
Never knew but don't seem like i'm missing much
Was the show the reason for the manic/depressive confession?
No, but it will be at this rate.
I never liked her. She was never that serious of a journalist, I thought. She always acted silly on the Today show.
Jane Pauley has all the charisma and personality of an artichoke, a middle-aged artichoke at that. I knew from the moment her show was announced that it would fail miserably.
The word tonight is that her show has been pulled due to low ratings.
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