TV talk show veteran Diane Rappoport is out as executive producer of Telepictures new Dr. Keith Ablow Show and has been replaced by Cathy Chermol, a studio consultant and five-year veteran of Good Morning America who has worked on a variety of talkers.
A Telepictures spokeswoman Thursday confirmed the exit of Rappoport, named to the post in April after executive producing Paramount’s Montel Williams for seven years until last December, and arrival of Chermol.
The spokeswoman did not provide a reason for the quick departure or say how many episodes had already been completed under Rappoport’s guidance.
Rappoport, who also ran Paramount’s old Maury Povich Show and was head of production for Oprah, left the show last week, leaving Telepictures and Chermol to apply intensive care to a program featuring a novice TV talk host whose program has gotten off to a slow start in the ratings.
The studio rep said Telepictures was happy with its performance and especially encouraged by day-to-day growth in its first four days last week. Ablow took a tumble midway through this week, which the studio attributes to the attention surrounding the latest talk arrivals.
Ablow fell 10% in rating from week to week, dropping from a 1.0 rating/3 share in week one to a 0.9/3 through three days this week—down 31% from its lead-in and year-ago time period average of 1.3/4. It fell to a 0.8/3 on Wednesday, two days after the debut of King World’s Rachael Ray and NBC Universal’s Megan Mullally.
