‘Live’ Ratings Reportedly Down 25 Percent: Will Kelly Ripa Quit?


Another day, another story about ratings on Live! With Kelly & Ryan. This time, it’s Radar Online reporting that things aren’t going so hot for Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. The site insists that it’s not going well for the new morning duo and that things have gotten much worse since Seacrest’s May 1 debut.

“The re-named daytime talk show declined a whopping 12 percent in TV ratings from the series’ week 1 to week 2. According to national Nielsen rating numbers, Live! has dropped a staggering 25 [percent] for May 2017 sweeps ratings as compared to last May 2016 when Strahan was still co-host,” Radar Online reports.

After a solid month of ratings in the books, it seems clear that Live! isn’t what it used to be. And while network execs may have expected a bit of a drop in ratings after the show’s big co-host announcement last month, a 25 percent drop is fairly significant.

This report comes just days after another claim made by Radar Online that Seacrest was “miserable” living in New York. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, fans have been wondering if Seacrest will end up leaving the show when his contract is up, moving back to Los Angeles, and maybe, just maybe, returning to host the new American Idol.

So, what happens now? It may be stating the obvious here, but Kelly Ripa isn’t about to leave her post. She has been on the show for over a decade and has been able to carry her own despite the changes she has endured. It is highly unlikely that Ripa would quit Live! and it might be fair to say that she’s not the reason that the ratings have dropped — at least not completely.

Fans have been a bit let down by the addition of Ryan Seacrest as he wasn’t even in the top five of the internet’s “fan favorite” list. That list consisted of Andy Cohen, Anderson Cooper, Fred Savage, Jerry O’Connell, and even Ripa’s husband, Mark Consuelos. Although Seacrest has a ton of hosting experience, some fans feel as though he doesn’t gel well with Kelly. The two have chemistry, but it’s not electric. This could absolutely be the reason that ratings aren’t super high. Some people just don’t care to watch the show anymore.

If things don’t work out, the more likely solution would be to find another co-host for Ripa. Ryan Seacrest’s contract details haven’t been publicly disclosed, but there’s a chance that he only inked a one-year deal. That would mean that he’d be free to go back to Los Angeles after May 2018, and that could be a mutual decision — Seacrest may want to leave the Big Apple and head back to the City of Angels and Live! producers might want to try to find Ripa someone else to riff with in the mornings. Anything is possible and only time will tell.

Despite the ongoing rumors of a failing program, Kelly and Ryan continue to post photos on social media and keep the smiles planted on their respective faces. This is show business, after all. Take a look at the photo below. Kelly posted it on Thursday, just hours before Radar Online reported the “drastic” ratings drop.

The two don’t appear to be the least bit concerned, suggesting that maybe they have nothing to worry about.

Are you a fan of Live!? Do you like Ryan Seacrest as Kelly Ripa’s co-host or would you have preferred someone else? Who was your top choice for Michael Strahan’s replacement? Please feel free to share your thoughts on Live! in the comments section below.

[Featured Image by Pawel Kaminski/Disney/ABC Home Entertainment and TV Distribution]

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