Chatty Kathie Lee Turns Off “Today” Viewers

By Tom Rose
Fancast.com

Kathie Lee Gifford’s endless chatter may be causing viewer drop-off for the so called “4th Hour” on the Today Show, reports The NY Times. And Co-Host Hoda Kotb is not helping. YouTube fans will recall an incident last month when Sam Zien, better known as Sam the Cooking Guy, lost his cool and scolded the two for walking over his banter during a regular segment. “Can’t I talk?” he said in exasperation, after the hosts barged in on his attempt to describe a tricky salad preparation once too often. “I watch this show every day. Everybody has issues with a lot of chatter back here, pay attention one minute!”

Less than a minute was all it took for Kathie Lee to threaten the flunky’s gig and berate him for his less than careful eyebrow trimming. But are fans eating it up? According to Nielsen, viewer numbers for the fourth hour of Today have declined - from 1.9 million during the four weeks before, to 1.7 million during the four months since Gifford joined the show.

NBC executives say the decline is seasonal, a function of the summer rather than the talent. But fans are sounding off. According to the Times “so far, Mrs. Gifford is the only TV personality who has compelled Leah Ackerman, a 33-year-old police officer trainee in Alameda, Calif., to set up a user group on Facebook.com. Although her group, “I Hate Kathy Lee Gifford,” has attracted only four members (”I just did it for me and my friends,” she said by phone), it is one of at least three groups on the site dedicated to denouncing Mrs. Gifford.”

Of course not everyone is against Kathie. “I think people are a little jealous they don’t look like that at her age,” said Kathy Jo Ellison, 52, a retired Kmart manager in Memphis. “Some women are like a fine wine — they just get better with age.”

Oh well. Controversy draws eyeballs. But if the numbers keep slipping, it’ll be interesting to see if Kathie and Hoda heed the criticism and put a cork in it.