'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' Staggering Declined Ratings: How She Lost 1M Viewers With One Word
If 2020 was a challenging year for the former media darling Ellen DeGeneres, 2021 is even harder.
In a New York Times report, her show "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" is also facing hard times.
Her once beloved and highly-rated show now averaged 1.5 million viewers in the last six months, a staggering decline from 2.6 million viewers in the same period the previous year.
The show has declined 43% in its current season after its premiere in September.
This came after complaints of the toxic workplace from some of her staff on the show, which led to an internal investigation from Warner Bros.
Ellen DeGeneres' Fall from Grace
The 63-year-old got off to a strong ratings start on the 18th season premiere when she addressed the scandal.
However, it didn't last long because there has been a massive decline in viewership in the following months.
In September, Ellen DeGeneres, whose wife is Portia de Rossi, apologized.
In her opening monologue, she addressed the scandal saying, "I learned that things happen here that never should have happened."
"I take that very seriously, and I want to say I'm so sorry to the people who were affected."
She also said that she would be taking full responsibility, explaining, "know that I'm in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility. I take responsibility for what happens at my show."
DeGeneres also acknowledged in her September broadcast that she would be working on improving amid the number of complaints of the hostile work environment.
Multiple senior producers were later fired, including executive producers Kevin Leman, Ed Glavin, and Jonathan Norman, and the show even tried to increase employee perks to raise morale.
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Advertising research firm Kantar also told the NY Times that Ellen DeGeneres also brought significantly less sponsorship revenue.
During the 2019-2020 season, she raked in $130 million in advertising, while the 2020-2021 season is just somewhere around $105 million.
But despite the low ratings, David McGuire, an executive VP of programming at Telepictures, described "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" as "one of the top three highest-rated syndicated talk shows this season."
He added, "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."
Is it the End of Ellen DeGeneres?
While Ellen DeGeneres wasn't scared away from her show with this bad publicity, her contract continues until next year, and that Warner Bros. confirmed that "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" will be returning for season 19.
However, it was not confirmed if it will be the last.
It may be the end of her show, but she's certainly not going anywhere.
The host was able to catch a deal with Warner Bros. to produce four HBO Max shows and is also working on some content for Discovery.
However, DeGeneres' image is going to be forever tainted.
