It’s probably premature to declare the demise of George Stroumboulopoulos’ CNN foray, but the popular Canadian talk show host’s new program on U.S. TV debuted on Sunday night to some of the network’s worst ratings of the year.
Just 192,000 Americans watched the debut of "Stroumboulopoulos" in the Sunday 10 p.m. time slot, TVByTheNumbers reports. Of those, only 78,000 were in the coveted 25 to 54 age group.
It was the second-lowest rating for CNN in that time slot this year, and viewership was down 62 per cent compared to the same day last week.
Fox News won the slot among news networks, drawing 739,000 viewers for “Stossel,” while “MSNBC Investigates” garnered 391,000 viewers.
CNN announced Strombo’s show in April, promising interviews with "celebrities, world leaders, and trail-blazing artists" — not unlike Strombo’s well-known CBC show, “George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.”
But Strombo’s ratings could yet take a turn for the better, as the plan is to air the show Friday nights, not in the Sunday night time slot where it debuted. CNN was hoping to give “Stroumboulopoulos” a ratings boost by debuting the show right after the season finale of "Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown."
But more than half of Bourdain’s audience tuned out of Strombo’s show, Deadline reports.
“Stroumboulopoulos” has nine episodes remaining in its summer run.
This wouldn't be the first time Stroumboulopoulos has made a foray into U.S. TV. His previous attempt, as the host of an ABC reality show called "The One: Making a Music Star," lasted four episodes before the network cancelled the show.
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