Anderson Cooper began his daytime talk show, Anderson, on Monday on CNN. While it is too early to predict how the show will pan out long-term, it is surprisingly hard to tell even what the tone of his program will be, since he opened with a bicycle trick but then preceded into an interview with Amy Winehouse’s family. Cooper himself has noted wanting a lighthearted show, but until producers are on the same page, he might end up with something a little more haphazard. That could, in turn, show up in the ratings.
In fact, Anderson started slow, only earning a 1.1 household rating on its first day. To compare, the opening season football game between Green Bay and New Orleans earned an overnight rating of 17.2. Most other programs land somewhere in the middle. According to Deadline, the sluggish start may be explained by CBS Sports’ coverage of the U.S. Open’s men’s tennis final. The slow start may also be explained by a lack in audience awareness in regards to the program’s beginning date.
Given time, Cooper has the likeability and the engaged interest to pull off a daytime talk show. There’s no cause for alarm with the ratings, now, or even in a few weeks. Even good hosts need some time to warm up, specifically when they change formats. He’ll find the right balance, it just may not be tomorrow. It certainly wasn’t today, but who’s going to compete with Dr. Phil’s interview with Casey Anthony’s family?
