NBC’s reboot of Celebrity Apprentice with new host Arnold Schwarzenegger capped off a rocky first season Monday night by finishing in last place among all broadcast networks in the 9 p.m. hour, with initial ratings for the season finale episode matching the series’ lowest.
According to the Wrap, Monday night’s Apprentice finale drew a 0.9/3 in the ratings and 3.4 million total viewers, also a new low in total viewership for the show.
Those numbers are also a steep drop from the series’ premiere episode in January, which drew a 1.3 rating and an average of 4.9 million total viewers, with those premiere figures themselves down a whopping 35 percent from the premiere of the final Donald Trump-hosted season in 2015.
Meanwhile, the 9 p.m. hour winners on the night included ABC’s The Bachelor (2.3/8, 7.5 million viewers), CBS’ Superior Donuts (1.4/5, 7.2 million viewers) and Fox’s APB (1.0/4, 4.5 million viewers).
The Schwarzenegger-led series has suffered from poor reviews throughout its run, and even the off-screen drama surrounding the show couldn’t save it.
Earlier this month, the president joked at the National Prayer Breakfast that he would pray for Schwarzenegger’s ratings to rebound.
“They hired a big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take my place, and we know how that turned out,” Trump said. “The ratings went right down the tubes. It’s been a total disaster. And [producer] Mark [Burnett] will never, ever bet against Trump again, and I want to just pray for Arnold, if we can, for those ratings.”
Schwarzenegger later fired back in a video posted to social media: “Hey Donald, I have a great idea. Why don’t we switch jobs? You take over TV, because you’re such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job.”
Monday night’s episode saw the final two contestants, American Ninja Warrior host Matt Iseman and 80s pop musician Boy George, square off in a fundraising contest to see who could win the business of Carnival Cruise Lines.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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