The Apprentice Becomes a Journeyman

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NBC has picked up a second season of Mark Burnett’s The Apprentice, featuring Donald Trump, who also executive produces. The show is expected to return next fall.

With an average 9.4 rating/23 share among adults 18-49 and 19.1 million viewers after three episodes, the show is TV’s third-highest rated among adults 18-49 and its sixth-highest rated among viewers.

Last Thursday, Jan. 29, The Apprentice delivered NBC’s highest 18-49 rating in 15 months, a 48% jump over the network’s season-to-date average in the time slot. With those numbers, it’s a good bet that The Apprentice will take over Thursdays at 9 p.m. next fall, helping to shore up a Friends-less lineup for NBC.

"The Apprentice is a red-hot breakout hit for NBC and it has delivered some of the best ratings of any new show in NBC history," said Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment, News and Cable. "Donald Trump and Mark Burnett are the most potent force in television today and I’m thrilled to say that The Apprentice will have an appointment on NBC for many years to come."

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.