By Anna Morris | Posted on January 19, 2016 10:37 AM
The Talk films a weeks worth on content in New York in an attempt to surpass longtime rival, The View.
The Talk continues its seemingly annual tradition of week long flash-recordings in New York City. The Los Angeles based talk-show, which stars Julie Chen, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood, Sara Gilbert and Aisha Tyler, first made its appearance in New York City during its second season in 2013. Since then, it has filmed in the big apple twice a year (once during the February/May sweeps and again in December). According to one tv-insider, the stints on the east coast have been a successful venture for the show, citing a spike in ratings whenever it comes to town.
On their week-long NYC recording in May, the notable guests on The Talk included: Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, Vanessa Hudgens, Kesley Grammar, and Darren Criss, all actors who were at the time promoting the Broadway shows: It’s Only a Play,Gigi, Finding Neverland, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, respectively. Clearly, the locale of New York City enabled The Talk to attract a slew of celebrities that were pertinent to the New York City area, including a number of Broadway stars.
In addition to New York City being the media capital of the world, it also happens to be the home of the longstanding, rival TV talk-show The View. While The Talk, may once have been viewed as the “new kids on the block”, it is safe to say that the show has solidified itself as a viable competitor to the show that trail blazed the path for which the The Talk now basks in. Its annual expeditions to the big apple are indeed a sign of the show looking at ways to close the gap in popularity between itself and The View. Especially after the departure of Barbara Walters, who appears to have left a void that the show has been unable to fill. Since her retirement in May 2014, there has been a revolving door of cast members. Rosie O’Donnell was rehired, then left after a few months. Other departures included: Jenny McCarthy,Sherri Shepherd and Rosie Perez, all who left amid rumors and not without controversy. The current cast includes includes Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Raven-Symoné, Michelle Collins, Candace Cameron Bure and Paula Faris. An ensemble that has garnered mixed reviews.
The Talk , which appears a great deal more stable, returned for their second go around in 2015 in December. The show’s notable guests included Jake McDorman (Limitless), Josh Groban, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery from Downtown Abbey, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. During its New York week, the show differed slightly from their regular routine back in California. Instead of live broadcasting all five days of the week. The schedule was altered slightly, broadcasting live on Tuesday and Wednesday, and recording their Thursday and Friday episodes on those same days. This allowed the cast to travel about the city for promotion purposes. Some of which included the handing out of $100 dollar bills to people on the street. The show was clearly in the Holiday spirit as they dispersed a combined amount of $1.7 million in prizes in Oprah-esque fashion.
It will be interesting to monitor this ongoing competition between the two programs and see whether The Talk’s recent surge in ratings over The View is an aberration, or indicative of a trend that will continue to grow. During the second quarter of 2015, The Talk moved ahead of The View in both total viewership (2.54 million v. 2.52 million) and more specifically in viewership of women aged 25-54 (549,000 v. 505,000) according to Nielsen. During Premiere week in September of 2015, The Talk again topped The View in total viewership by a margin of 2.36 million to 2.31 million. If this pattern remains steady we may be seeing a changing-of-the-guard for daytime TV supremacy.
