The New Celebrity Apprentice Drops in Ratings with New Host
By Buckie Wells
If 2016 proved anything, it’s that Donald Trump affects ratings. So, it comes as no surprise that Celebrity Apprentice can’t stay afloat without him.
Donald Trump commanded a lot of media attention during the 2016 election. Despite the views of a network or the political affiliations of some of these network’s hosts, Donald Trump appeared on almost every news outlet. Popular networks, like NBC, gave Trump his time in the spotlight, the result of which leaves us only a couple weeks away from inaugurating a businessman as leader of the free world. Obviously, the blame doesn’t fall on the media entirely. The reality is Trump helps ratings. Whether you tune in to watch the calamity unfold or to hang on his every honest word, Trump makes ratings great … apparently.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Arnold Schwarzenegger. The man who built his career on terminating took over as host for Trump on Celebrity Apprentice, which debuted its “new” season last night. Two years after the last season aired, the ratings for the new-and-supposedly-improved season hosted by Arnie only brought in 4.9 million viewers. According to Entertainment Weekly, that’s 44 percent less than the previous season. Further, EW presents a number of reasons for the sudden change.
First, Celebrity Apprentice faced stiff competition from The Bachelor, which earned 6.6 million viewers. Plus, several football games aired on TV and the show moved from Sunday to Monday. While Trump no longer hosts, he remains as a producer of the show through MGM — how many TV shows can say they’re executive-produced by the (soon to be) President of the United States?! So, it appears as though people either want him to host or don’t want him anywhere near it.
However, The Celebrity Apprentice only aired the premiere. It’s unfair to label this as a lost cause so early. Skynet could still intervene, send another host from the future, and then, well, you know…
Related Story: The Man in the High Castle Renewed For A Third Season
The New Celebrity Apprentice airs Monday nights on NBC.