Miller Time over at CNBC
Dennis Miller has something new to rant about.
The comedian’s daily CNBC talk show has been canceled due to low ratings.
Dennis Miller will tape its final episode Friday in Burbank, leaving CNBC with a prime-time slot likely to be filled by a new business-themed program in the third quarter of this year.
A repeat of CNBC’s Mad Money with Jim Cramer will air in its place in the meantime, according to an internal CNBC memo obtained by MediaBistro.com.
Dennis Miller bowed in January 2004 to lukewarm reviews and mediocre ratings, which have slipped in recent months to around 114,000, per Nielsen Media Research. Overall, the show has averaged 168,000 viewers, which, to be fair, is nowhere near as low as John McEnroe’s canned CNBC yakfest, McEnroe, a show that sometimes registered an abysmal 0.0 rating.
Miller’s show is the second CNBC cancellation in a week, following former Talk magazine editor Tina Brown’s show, Topic A with Tina Brown, furthering speculation that CNBC is getting back to its business roots amid reports that Roger Ailles and his Fox News are seeking to capitalize on CNBC’s weak ratings with the launch of a new Fox all-business channel.
“I wanted to let you all know that we will be expanding our signature Business Day programming up to primetime on the East Coast and will be adding an additional airing of Mad Money with Jim Cramer at 9 p.m. ET/PT,” CNBC president Mark Hoffman said in an email to employees Wednesday.
Hoffman acknowledged that Miller would be a casualty of CNBC’s decision to shore up its business audience in the memo.
“I have spoken with Dennis Miller about these plans and he has let me know that his strong preference is to leave his program immediately,” Hoffman said. “Therefore, the final episode of Dennis Miller will air this Friday.”
“Dennis is an exceptionally talented comedian with an unmatched wit and he and his team consistently delivered a very entertaining program,” Hoffman added.
There was no immediate comment from Miller or CNBC.
Miller’s previous foray into the talk-show format, HBO’s Dennis Miller Live, ran from 1994 to 2002 and snagged the premium cable network its first-ever Emmy for an original series.
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