'Live' Overnight Ratings Up 62% on Ripa's Return

By
( )
published

Kelly Ripa’s return to Live with Kelly and Michael on Tuesday scored a 4.7 rating/16 share in households in the 54 metered markets, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That’s up 38% from Monday, when Michael Strahan welcomed guest host Shay Mitchell of Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars, and up 62% from the show’s week-ago rating of 2.9/10. That was the day ABC made the announcement that Strahan would be decamping Live for Good Morning America, upsetting Ripa and launching a week of drama.

Related: Michael Strahan Leaving 'Live' for 'Good Morning America'

Strahan’s arrival and nearly four-year stint has been very good for Live, ratings-wise, and these next two weeks before he officially departs will likely prove to be the same. The challenge will now be finding a new co-host who can maintain or grow the show’s ratings as Strahan did.

Strahan was going to stay on the show all summer and leave in September, but ABC said Tuesday, after Ripa’s return, that Friday, May 13, will now be Strahan’s last day.

Related: Michael Strahan to Exit 'Live' on May 13

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8f4ir8cCZ8[/embed]

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.