NEW YORK (AP) – “Jesse Ventura’s America” isn’t very crowded.
The former Minnesota governor’s MSNBC talk show debut was seen by a tiny audience of 194,000 people last weekend.
It badly trailed its cable news competition and scored fewer viewers than a rerun, taped profile of First Lady Laura Bush that MSNBC aired in the same Saturday evening time slot a week earlier, according to Nielsen Media Research figures released Tuesday.
Ventura had California Gov. Gray Davis and Arianna Huffington, a columnist and former candidate in California’s recall election, as guests. He had a studio audience and ended his show by designating a “hero of the week” and “dork of the week.”
“We’re happy with the show’s debut and the ratings are in line with live programming in that time period,” said MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines, adding that the ratings don’t necessarily mean Ventura’s show is endangered.
During the same time slot, Fox News Channel’s “Fox Report Saturday” was seen by 841,000 viewers and CNN’s “Capital Gang” had 553,000, Nielsen said.
The Bush profile on Sept. 27 was seen by 279,000 people.
The last time MSNBC had a live news program in the time slot, earlier in September, it had fewer viewers than Ventura, he said. MSNBC generally fares better on the weekend with taped programming, he said.
Ventura fans would have had to be paying close attention to even know the show was on the air. MSNBC barely promoted it, running on-air promotions for the debut on Friday night and Saturday.
The network bought no print ads and no commercials on other networks.
Ventura’s show was troubled almost since MSNBC hired him. It was envisioned as a daily, prime-time fixture, but after its premiere was delayed several times, the network said it would run just once a week on Saturday – generally the least-watched night of television.
On his debut, Ventura thanked MSNBC for “finally having the courage” to put him on the air.
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