The views for The Ellen DeGeneres Show have plummeted since rumours about the show being a ‘toxic workplace’ first circulated. This news comes just a day after Ellen DeGeneres's wife Portia de Rossi began recovering after emergency surgery.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show returned in September 2020 for its 18th season. The show has been a staple of daytime television since it began airing on 8th September 2003 but according to the research firm Nielsen, the show has lost over a million viewers.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show has averaged 1.5million viewers over the last six months. The viewership was previously 2.6million in the same period last year, meaning a huge loss of around a million viewers.
According to The New York Times, there has been a 38% decline in the show’s core audience, which is adult women under the age of 54. The New York Times also suggested that the show’s declining audience has affected ad revenue.
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“From September to January of the 2019-20 season, 'Ellen' brought in $131 million from advertisers, according to the research firm Kantar. That has fallen to $105 million for the same period in 2020-21, a drop of about 20 percent,” said The New York Times.
When the show returned last year for its 18th season Ellen apologised for the behavior that took place backstage and assured fans that an investigation took place. “As you may have heard there were allegations of a toxic work environment at our show and then there was an investigation. I learned that things happen here that never should have happened," she said.
She then continued to apologise to the people who were affected by this toxic workplace. "I take that very seriously. And I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected,” she said.
David McGuire, an executive vice president of programming at Telepictures, suggested that the show’s declining numbers could be a result of the pandemic.
David said, “While broadcast is down across the board and Covid has been challenging for production, we are looking forward to bringing back our live audiences and a 19th season filled with all of the hilarious and heartwarming moments that have made ‘Ellen’ one of the longest-running and most successful talk shows in history,” he said.
David also added that Ellen’s show is still one of the most highly rated talk shows. “The Ellen DeGeneres Show remains one of the top three highest-rated syndicated talk shows this season,” he said.
