The end is near for Ellen DeGerenes’ daytime talk show run, as the veteran host is set to conclude her eponymous series this spring after a 19-season run. During this final stretch of episodes, DeGeneres has continued to welcome a variety of stars to the studios, yet the slew of celebrity guests don’t appear to be resulting in higher ratings. The show has had a difficult time maintaining its audience as of late and numbers are reportedly continuing to drop across the board. And on top of all of this, Degeneres recently saw another one of her shows get cancelled.
Ellen’s Game of Games has officially received the axe from NBC after running for four seasons, according to Deadline. The series debuted on the network in 2017 and would ultimately air eight episodes during its inaugural season. The reality competition program was initially met with strong ratings but, as noted by the trade, viewerships steadily began to drop. This decline became especially prominent during the show’s fourth season, which aired 20 episodes from fall 2020 to spring 2021.
Spun off from the popular Ellen segment of the same name, Game of Games saw contestants participate in a variety of events over four rounds. Popular segments like “Blindfolded Musical Chairs” and “You Bet Your Wife” were among the challenges competitors played through. From there, the winner of each round advanced to the “Know or Go” game, and whoever won that round would get to compete in the high-pressure “Hotter Hands” event. In it, one attempted to answer as many questions as they could in only 60 seconds.
The cancellation of the game show is merely a one portion of the ratings losses Ellen DeGeneres has experienced over the past year. Ellen was first reported to be having ratings trouble in October 2020. This came on the heels of the backlash the host received after the show was accused of fostering a toxic workplace culture. By the time production on Season 18 returned to the studio (after the COVID quarantine) in January 2021, ratings continued to slip. Many did tune in to see her address the workplace allegations, but viewership subsequently declined by 40% percent.
By the spring of 2021, the once-highly popular show was reported to be drawing less than 1 million viewers and only managed to amass a total of 900,000 total viewers during the first two weeks of April. The show managed to average around 1.4 million total viewers an episode during its 2020-2021 season, which marked a 44% decline from the 2.6 million it amassed over the previous season. These losses have effectively helped build momentum for Kelly Clarkson’s talk show, which will be taking over Ellen DeGeneres’ timeslot when her show ends.
Despite the backlash and drop in ratings, the Finding Dory star says those things did not contribute to her decision to end her talk show. She cited her “to be challenged” in new ways as a key factor in the choice. As she put it, after 19 years, her daytime gig is “just not a challenge anymore.”
There’s a chance a sizable number of viewers will tune in to see her sign off one final time this spring, which tends to happen when TV staples say their goodbyes. Of course, we’ll just have to wait and see what the exact size of that audience turns out to be. Aside from that, though, some may also want to keep an eye out for any new TV ventures from the star now that Game of Games has finished its run.
