TV writers are trying to be kind: "Howard Stern isn't the King of Prime-Time TV. At least not yet." Stern's debut as a panelist on NBC's "America's Got Talent" drew 10.5 million viewers, down sharply from the 15.3 million viewers who watched the season debut of the talent competition last year. Stern's debut was the least-watched season premiere of "America's Got Talent" dating back to 2006.
The writers blamed finales on other Monday night shows. But what about Week Two? Ratings went down again. It "dropped 16 percent in the demo but was still the top-rated show with a 3.1/9. It drew 9.5 million total viewers."
Isn't it quite possible that the Howard Stern superfan -- the ones that thrive on dirty sex talk during their morning commute -- are not going to follow Stern to a show where they can watch magicians and dancers? In that case, NBC has made another very expensive programming mistake.
Read Brent Bozell on the Stern experiment.
