Peter Kramer/AP/FILE - Jon Stewart, left, of Comedy Central's “Daily Show,” left, and and Bill O'Reilly of Fox News’s “O’Reilly Factor” will live-stream their debate.
The celebrities — and political wives — will be asked to co-host the show with George Stephanopoulos during that lighter hour of the morning infotainment franchise.
The “stunt-casting” of “GMA’s” co-host slot can’t be welcome news for NBC’s competitor “Today” show, which in April saw its 17-year weekly ratings winning streak ended by “GMA.”
More from Lisa de Moraes
Pulitzer Prize winner, Peabody recipient, Medal of Freedom honoree -- Lisa de Moraes is none of these, but she is an authority on the bad direction, over-acting, and muddled plot lines being played out in the TV industry's executive suites.
“Today” reacted by replacing Ann Curry with Savannah Guthrie the next month, but without retaking its ratings lead.
“GMA” has snagged a bigger crowd than “Today” the past five weeks, and 10 of the past 12 — with “Today” taking the two weeks during NBC’s coverage of the Summer Olympics, when the show traveled to London.
New ‘Voice’ judges
NBC confirmed that R&B singer Usher and popster Shakira are going to fill in for judges Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera during the spring cycle of the network’s singing competition series “The Voice.”
The move will give Green and Aguilera a break from the show’s grueling schedule to focus on their “other” careers.
“The Voice” is one of few bright spots on NBC’s lineup, which is struggling to regain ratings. The network’s over-reliance on “The Voice” calls to mind the ABC of the late ’90s, when the struggling network hit a ratings jackpot with “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” At one point, three nights a week of “Millionaire” were also the country’s three most-watched prime-time programs. But through over-use, “Millionaire” began to collapse in 2001 and was dead as a prime-time broadcast series by the summer of ’02 (though a version lives on in daytime syndication).
NBC did not launch “The Voice” until the summer of 2011 — buying the Dutch format after losing out to Fox in a bidding war for Simon Cowell’s “The X Factor” — but “The Voice” is already on its third cycle.
The fall cycle is, arguably, the most important, as it gives NBC a rare ratings magnet off which to launch new series. Last week, for instance, the time-slot debut of its new Matthew Perry comedy, “Go On,” launched Tuesday after “The Voice,” averaging nearly 10 million viewers and finishing in the week’s top 10.
And this past Monday, the unveiling of NBC’s “Revolution” right after another “Voice” auditions episode logged a healthy 12 million viewers, making it the top-premiering drama on any network in three years, and on NBC in five years.
Meanwhile, Fox’s new drama “Mob Doctor” — airing Monday in the teeth of “The Voice” — got gnashed, scoring just 5 million viewers.
In Tuesday’s announcement, NBC insisted that Aguilera and Green will return to the show “next year,” which presumably means next fall.
For more columns by Lisa de Moraes, visit washingtonpost.com/tvcolumn.
What was really the most-watched program? NBC and CBS have different answers.
1369281900000
TV REVIEWS | Fox’s reality show forces employees to decide who gets the pink slip. Also reviewed: AMC’s sweet “Showville.”
1369266171000
Blitzer’s interview with a young mother proved to be a memorable exchange.
1369177382000
CBS had a hefty 4 million-viewer lead over its closest competitor this season.
1369176530000
They replace Britney Spears and LA Reid on the singing competition.
1369098720000
It would have been his TV directorial debut, but ‘felt he didn’t have gas left in the tank’ after busy year.
1369089060000
A repeat broadcast will run in the time period
1369088399000
“Dome” will debut June 24 at 10 p.m.; “Siberia” will launch the following Monday.
1369087775000
She becomes first woman to run a network news division in the United States,
1369087299000
That should put TV critics at ease, who hated his performance this year.
1369086967000
Five top moments from the 2013 Billboard Music Awards.
1369078337000
A sampling of fine arts on television for the week of May 19-25.
1368912872000
It’s not L.A. or New York, but Washington has a lot of companies whose shows are on your TV.
1368820800000
The experienced designer talks about his long run with the sketch comedy show, Zoe Barnes' hoodies and styling for Washington.
1368816856000The Post Most: EntertainmentMost-viewed stories,videos, and galleries in the past two hours
Loading...
Comments