“The View,” ABC’s increasingly troubled daytime all-female, left-wing gab-fest, might finally be on its last legs. After a series of personnel changes that would make the late-Billy Martin’s head spin, “The View” is now shedding viewers while similar shows on CBS and Fox News increase viewers.
For the first time ever last week, CBS’ “The Talk” beat “The View” in both total and demo (18-49) viewers.
According to Nielsen, “The View is down a whopping 11% in total viewers when compared to last year. For the first three-and-a-half months of last year, “The View” pulled in 3.3 million. That has now dipped to 2.9 million.
Fox News launched its own version of “The View” in April of last. In its timeslot “Outnumbered” has increased viewership over the show it replaced by 20% — an increase from 1.05 million to 1.26 million viewers.
Most impressive is that “Outnumbered” is topping “The View” in a number of cities. According to Nielsen, “Outnumbered” beats “The View” in both total and demo viewers in Salt Lake City, Jacksonville, Fort Meyers, and Memphis.
Cable beating broadcast is still a big deal.
Of late, “The View” has made a series of fatal errors, chief among them bringing back the toxic Rosie O’Donnell for another failed season. The show also told conservative viewers it didn’t care about them by switching out the much-respected Elisabeth Hasselbeck (who is now co-hosting “Fox and Friends”) with the widely disliked Nicolle Wallace.
Among most mainstream conservatives, Wallace is seen as nothing more than an opportunistic backstabber — a female Joe Scarborough — someone eager to throw her own under the bus in order to advance her career in the mainstream media.
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC