Trump blames Martha Stewart for his ratings slide

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Donald Trump isn’t exactly saying
he wants to fire his old friend and fellow mogul Martha Stewart
but he says she’s hurting the ratings of his television show
“The Apprentice.”

“The Apprentice: Martha Stewart,” a spin-off of Trump’s
corporate-themed “The Apprentice” reality show, was one of the
most highly anticipated and heavily promoted additions to NBC’s
schedule this fall but it has proven to be a ratings
disappointment.

In an ABC News Radio interview airing on Thursday, Trump
said the fourth edition of his show was being dragged down in
the ratings by Stewart’s faltering series.

“I think there was confusion between Martha’s ‘Apprentice’
and mine and mine continues to do well and … the other one
has struggled very severely,” the real estate tycoon said. “I
think it probably hurt mine and I sort of predicted that it
would.”

Asked whether he would give Stewart a second chance, Trump
was noncommittal.

“That’s up to (executive producer) Mark Burnett and myself
and NBC as to whether or not the Martha show continues but it
certainly has struggled mightily,” said Trump, who also is an
executive producer of both shows.

Trump’s “Apprentice” remains a key element of NBC’s
Thursday night lineup but is well off its mark from last
season’s ratings performance. The show currently averages 10
million viewers a week, down 4 million from last season.

Stewart’s show is averaging 6.6 million viewers through its
first four weeks.

Stewart, who gently dismisses losing contestants on her
show by telling them, “You just don’t fit in,” launched her
series last month with the smallest audience ever for a season
debut of the vaunted “Apprentice” franchise.

Many TV critics have said Stewart’s prime-time success has
been hurt by her post-prison image make-over as a warmer,
softer lifestyle guru, in contrast with Trump’s tough-boss
persona and his curt signature phrase “You’re fired.”