‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ cancelled? Producers deny it
It’s hard to see WarnerMedia wanting to keep The Ellen DeGeneres Show on air after all the drama that’s come up about the show. Between the allegations about Ellen herself being mean, sexual assault allegations against a producer, and just overall allegations about cruel behavior behind the scenes, it’s a bunch of lawsuits waiting to happen.
But according to executive producer Andy Lassner on Twitter, Ellen isn’t going anywhere, yet.
As the cast and crew of The Ellen DeGeneres Show are investigated regarding these allegations, rumors have swirled constantly that the hit talk show is getting the plug pulled. So, is Lassner’s word the end all be all?
Not the first time rumors came about
This is far from the first time The Ellen DeGeneres Show has dealt with cancellation rumors. Since the scandal of Ellen being mean started, producers have been trying to put out rumors that the show is going down. Even as recent as July 1st has The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s production company shot down rumors about the show being cancelled.
Why people think the ship is sinking
Sure, Ellen’s mean, and the show’s a mess behind the scenes, but even House of Cards got a bonus season after getting shut down thanks to Kevin Spacey. It’s not just the scandals that have people saying the show needs to go: it’s the viewership numbers.
Normally, even not during an international pandemic, The Ellen DeGeneres Show averages about 4.2 million viewers an episode. This season, before the controversy hit, Ellen was seeing about 2.0 million viewers on average.
But since the controversy of Ellen herself being mean, as well as the mistreatment of the crew during the pandemic, the numbers were dropping. By June 2020, The Ellen DeGeneres Show was only getting 1.5 million an episode, which was a season low. Even Dr. Oz was getting more views than Ellen. Doctor OZ.
Could the show survive?
Viewership ties directly into another crucial part of The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s success: advertising. Ellen’s show pulls in good numbers, but it’s the demographic that she pulls in that matters more: 25-54 year old females.
This is a huge demographic if you’re an advertiser, and WarnerMedia knows it. Ad time during The Ellen DeGeneres Show costs over $50k, and we’re talking a basic 30 second ad. We don’t know the exact numbers, but we can’t imagine sponsoring The Ellen DeGeneres Show is cheap either.
Even if her viewership numbers tank, if Ellen can apologize and get that core demographic back, there’s still profit to be made from her show. Who cares what Ellen’s producers did as long as the show stays a cash cow?
Unintended competition
Of course, it’s also worth mentioning thanks to her controversy, a lot of Ellen’s viewers have gone to another female led talk show on NBC: The Kelly Clarkson Show. As The Ellen DeGeneres Show sank in views, Kelly Clarkson’s talk show saw an uptick in views during all this.
Still in its freshman season, The Kelly Clarkson Show takes Kelly Clarkson’s trademark charm and kindness and stretches it over an hour, but with such a loyal fanbase from her time on The Voice, it made sense to move her to daytime TV. But unlike Ellen, Kelly has done a much better job of showing her kindness as genuine.
Cancellation in the future?
Ellen signed a three year contract with NBC that won’t expire until 2022, so NBC would have to buy her out of her contract to cancel the show. But if they expect her show to no longer turn a profit, it makes sense to finally pull the plug and put more money into her competition.
Only time will tell how The Ellen DeGeneres Show will recover from the controversy. Most likely, it will come down to what the internal investigation turns up and how that changes the perception of the talk show host and her show.
