As its ratings remain disappointingly low, the Oprah Winfrey Network's "The Rosie Show" has laid off some 30 employees and contract workers as it attempts to "evolve" and attract a larger audience.
Crain's Chicago Business reports that new Chicagoan and comedienne Rosie O'Donnell has, as of Jan. 16, shifted her taping into a new, more intimate and colorful set before an audience of about 70, compared to the several hundred capacity of the former studio of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" at Harpo Studios, where the show was previously taped.
Further, the show has eliminated its game show segment and begun taping more one-on-one conversations between O'Donnell and her guests, according to Crain's.
The layoffs, according to a show spokesperson, were due to the fact that the smaller studio requires fewer staff to support the operation.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, "The Rosie Show" also announced late last month that a new producer -- Shane Farley ("Rachael Ray," "Rosie O'Donnell Show") -- had come aboard as the show's new executive producer, replacing Page Hurwitz.
O'Donnell told the Hollywood Reporter she wanted a more "homey feel" to her set, because she was inspired by Bravo host Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live" set when she was a guest there.
"I wanted to re-create that laid-back feeling, less about performing for a huge audience and more about having a one-on-one conversation," O'Donnell explained.
Time Out Chicago said the new set, described as "a colorful craft room with Rosie's abstract paintings hanging in the background," was "a step in the right direction."
Ratings for "The Rosie Show" dipped considerably from their premiere high of 321,000 viewers last October. According to Variety, the show as of last month averaged 204,000 viewers, which still marked an improvement for the perpetually ratings-challenged OWN.
NEW YORK -- The biggest of stars is off to a slow start this season.
"American Idol," that reliable ratings juggernaut, had a drop in viewership of more than 15 percent for its first two episodes back, underscoring how rough it is to attract and keep a devoted following when there are so many entertainment options.
Not so for the NFL.
Last month, its conference championship games were the most watched in 30 years, and it soars into Sunday's Super Bowl defying the ratings drag that plague much of TV.
"Every once in a while on TV, these events galvanize the nation, like `Who shot J.R.?'" said Kelly Kahl, the senior executive vice president for CBS Primetime. "These things come along once every five, 10 years. The Super Bowl is every year."
In 2006, NFL games on CBS, Fox and NBC averaged 16.3 million viewers. By 2011, that number had climbed to 19.8 million (down slightly from 20 million a year ago). Looking at the prime-time lineups on the Big 4 broadcast networks – the traditional home of mainstream entertainment – puts into perspective how unusual that surge is.
In 2006, their prime-time shows averaged 9.8 million viewers during the NFL regular season. Five years later, that had decreased to 8.1 million. The NFL's advantage had multiplied from 66 percent to 144 percent.
"It's gotten great momentum, and nothing has gotten in the way to stop that momentum," Kahl said.
A close score Sunday between the New England Patriots and New York Giants likely will break the record set by last year's Super Bowl for the largest audience in U.S. television history of 111 million people. That's not to be confused with the highest-rated show ever, measured by the percentage of all American homes with TVs tuned into a program. The "MASH" series finale, watched by more than 60 percent, still holds that distinction.
Population growth partly explains last year's big number, but massive interest in the game also does. At 46 percent, the 2011 game compared favorably to the Super Bowl record of 49.1 set in 1982 during the golden age of TV watching.
Network executives can rattle off all the reasons for the NFL's appeal: Scarcity of games, winner-take-all nature of the playoffs, fantasy football and gambling, the unpredictability of sports, the stunning visual of the NFL in HD.
The formula is not a secret, but replicating it is mystifying.
"The answer is elusive," said ESPN executive vice president John Wildhack. "If people knew, then others would emulate it."
It shouldn't come as a surprise that the TV property outside of sports most similar to the NFL is probably "Idol."
What those competition reality shows can't match is the singing contest equivalent of the "Madden" video games, said Brad Adgate, an analyst at Horizon Media.
"There might be some fantasy league for `American Idol' or `Dancing With the Stars,' but there's not anything as remotely near popular as for sports," he said.
College football is surging in popularity, too, and the two sports build off each other. The fame of college stars boosts interest in the draft, keeping the NFL in fans' consciousness during the offseason. Those players arrive in the pros already with a following.
Unlike other sports' championships, the Super Bowl has proved remarkably consistent at drawing big audiences even when small-market, tradition-poor franchises make it. Still, the NFL has been on a fortuitous run in recent years of close games and intriguing story lines.
The last four Super Bowls have featured a New York team (the Giants in 2008), an undefeated club (the Patriots that year), two appearances by the vaunted Steelers franchise, one by the vaunted Packers franchise (against Pittsburgh last year), and the feel-good tale of the Saints representing hurricane-ravaged New Orleans.
And after a brief stretch when it appeared a team didn't need a superstar quarterback to win (Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer), the glamour has fully returned to the position. With Tom Brady and Eli Manning, this year's Super Bowl features a supermodel wife and the first family of QBs.
It's been a good year for TV sports ratings in general with the World Series and Stanley Cup finals going to a Game 7 and the NBA needing six games. But those sports always risk a sweep and the lower ratings that generally follow.
NBC's Bob Costas, who will host the network's Super Bowl coverage, is unabashedly a bigger fan of baseball than any other sport. He can rave about the appeal of the NFL's one-and-done model – but he would never want MLB to cut down to a three-game series.
"What's best for baseball television-wise works against it as far as the integrity of the competition," he said.
And so the NFL will remain a singular entertainment property bigger than just a sport or TV show.
Of this Sunday, Wildhack said, "It's an unofficial national holiday."
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