ABC announced Thursday that it is shifting The View from the network's entertainment division to its news division.
In a note to his staff on the matter, ABC News President James Goldston wrote that The View "has always operated at the intersection of opinion and news."
This season is hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Rosie Perez and Nicolle Wallace.
It remains to be seen how much the move to the news division will affect what viewers see, or whether it will make the opinions any better-informed.
But the shift may have more to do with money than with content. The View has been struggling in the ratings for months, and shaking up the cast this season with the additions of O'Donnell, Perez and Wallace has not reversed the slide.
Moving The View to the news side means the show will be more favorably compared alongside other news programs, which are generally lower-rated than entertainment series. Also, news programs cater to a slightly older demographic than entertainment programming, with viewers up to age 54 being counted. Most TV advertisers are looking for viewers no older than 49.
Wallace is the youngest at age 42, and the only panelist younger than 50. Goldberg is the senior member, at 58.
When ABC fired Brons Frons in November 2011, the network did away with its Daytime division, moving The View, General Hospital, The Chew, The Revolution, Katie and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire to the new Times Square Studios division, headed by Vicki Dummer. Dummer is now executive vice president, Current Series, ABC Entertainment Group. In this position, she is responsible for overseeing all scripted current series for ABC across all dayparts. She reports to Paul Lee, president, ABC Entertainment Group.
No comments:
Post a Comment