OWN has officially nixed Rosie’s talk show.
According to reports, as Rosie O’Donnell’s most recent episode came to a close and the final credits rolled, OWN issued a press release announcing the show’s cancelation.
“It was a great year for me — I wish the show was able to attract more viewers — but it did not,” Rosie reportedly said in a statement. “So I am headed back to my home in New York — with gratitude. On we go!”
Oprah Winfrey, OWN Chief offered up a comment, reportedly saying, “I thank Rosie from the bottom of my heart for joining me on this journey. She has been an incredible partner, working to deliver the best possible show every single day.”
“As I have learned in the last 15 months, a new network launch is always a challenge and ratings grow over time as you continue to gather an audience. I’m grateful to Rosie and the dedicated Rosie Show team for giving it their all,” she said.
The five-month-old show was on the chopping block in recent months due to low ratings. It has suffered plummeting ratings, as is OWN, since first airing in October.
It became evident that long gone is the time when Rosie reigned as talk show queen with her OWN show pulling in an average of only 186,000 viewers a night. Her original show, Rosie O’Donnell Show ran successfully from 1996 to 2002 pulling in as many as 5 million viewers a night.
In previous years, Rosie had been trying to make a comeback. She had a stint on The View, and was being recruited by NBC for a syndicated talk show when, according to TheDailyBeast.com, Winfrey visited her for lunch, ending with a two-year multimillion deal with OWN.
This isn’t the first time the show is making headlines, but may be the last. In recent weeks, Rosie’s show was in the news after she and Chelsea Handler enraged many as they discussed little people.
“Would you ever do (have sex with) a little person,” asked O’Donnell at one point. “No, that would be child abuse, I would never do that,”Handler replied.
The final Rosie show will reportedly tape its final episode Tuesday, March 20 and will air Friday March 30 at 7 p.m.
