The View‘s Season 29 premiere episode, which aired on September 8, is the show’s biggest debut in five years.
According to Variety, which first revealed ABC News’ numbers, an average of 2.602 million viewers tuned in to see the series’ fall return, which featured all six returning panelists: Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin.
The numbers also reveal that the Season 29 premiere was a 7% increase over the Season 28 premiere, which earned 2.42 million. The full Season 29 premiere week’s average was a reported 2.32 million and a 1.51 rating, beating NBC’s Today Third Hour (which had 1.963), Today With Jenna (1.384), and NBC News Daily (1.245 million).
There wasn’t much of a dropoff week to week, either. The site reports that for the week of September 15, the second week of Season 29’s run, the average daily viewership was 2.311 million, still beating those top three competitors.
The View premiered with an episode full of “Hot Topic” discussions, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s contentious congressional hearing, Donald Trump‘s “Department of War” and planned Chicago takeover, the rash of adults taking sports game souvenirs from children and becoming the instant ire of the internet, and the panelists’ summer vacation plans.
The View returned under discomfiting circumstances, after the White House indicated that the show could face cancellation as a result of Behar’s pointed comments about Donald Trump.
In response to his claims that the former president, Barack Obama, had committed “treason,” Behar said, “He’s so jealous of Obama because Obama is everything that he is not: trim, smart, handsome, happily married, can sing ‘Let’s Get Together’ better than Al Green… and Trump cannot stand it. It’s driving him crazy. Green is not a good color [on him].” Her words were aired during the July 23 show, which aired before the summer hiatus began.
In response, a spokesperson for the White House said, “Joy Behar is an irrelevant loser suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.” The spokesperson also said the show had its “lowest ratings” in years and Behar “should self-reflect on her own jealousy of President Trump’s historic popularity before her show is the next to be pulled off air.”
There have also been signs that the same Trump-appointed FCC chairperson who targeted Jimmy Kimmel Live! and briefly resulted in the show’s suspension by ABC would set his sights on The View next.
Looks like the ratings, at least, are on the way up in Season 29.
The View, weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC
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