Ugh, The View. Can it be described any other way? Well, shows what we know: The morning talk show—sorry, "chatfest" to use Variety's annoying lingo—scored its most successful ratings season to date, according to a piece in the trade paper. Its average "aud" (or "audience" for those of us not in "the biz") is 4.2 million viewers, and it attracted a whopping 6.2 million the day after the presidential election.
The show features Whoopi Goldberg, screeching conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck, newcomer Sherri Shepherd, screeching but funny liberal Joy Behar, and a few days a week, Barbara "MyFace" Walters. What's the secret to their success? ABC Daytime "prexy" (president, according to Variety's slanguage dictionary)—seriously?—Brian Frons had this to say:
"There's more an alchemy now, and the panel feels fresher," Frons said. "They still surprise each other and the audience every day."
While it's pretty clear that Frons doesn't know what alchemy means, his show is succeeding while every other daytime talk show slides in the ratings. He's a prexy who knows the aud for his chatfest.