Steve Harvey’s retitled and rebranded talk show, “Steve,” is missing the mark. When Harvey’s first eponymous talk show, the “Steve Harvey” show, premiered on NBC in 2012, it was a hit. Ratings were solid; it was a strong 2.2 in national household ratings, a solid performer, and the show logged its best-ever ratings with women 25-54. “Steve” premiered on Sept. 5 and debuted at a 1.8 but quickly dropped to a 1.4 in the ratings. Reviews have been pessimistic.
“The Wendy Williams Show” is beating “Steve” in the ratings and he’s tied with Jerry Springer and Rachael Ray. Looking in his rearview mirror of career decisions in 2017, Harvey, 60, blames President Donald Trump.
“Here’s the crazy thing: I’m supposed to be on a boat for my 60th birthday, so my wife says, ‘Steve, just take off [and skip the meeting]. You’ll meet with him some other time.’ God, I should’ve listened,” he tells the Hollywood Reporter about the conversation with his wife Marjorie Harvey leading up to his meeting with the then President-elect in January. His fans reacted by tuning to other outlets.
Harvey was also heard admitting on his syndicated radio show, “The Steve Harvey Morning Show,” “Meeting with Donald Trump was the worst mistake of my life. I should have never gone up there.”
The fly radio jock Tom Joyner urged listeners who are “angry with Steve, come on back home to me!”
Harvey reportedly turned to fixer Judy Smith to help revamp his image.
Sources tell Daily Mail Harvey had his sights set on being a Hollywood power couple. Marjorie Harvey reportedly wanted to live in Los Angeles to launch her own TV career. She currently runs the website TheLadyLovesCouture.com, a fashion and lifestyle blog.
Harvey moved his brand to Los Angeles but left his TV staff back in Chicago where the show was previously taped. It was produced by Endemol USA with Steve Harvey, Alex Duda and Rushion McDonald serving as executive producers. There’s speculation the show would have survived the poorer ratings in Chicago where production is less expensive.
Harvey also relocated his Atlanta-based morning radio show to Los Angeles. His radio syndicator, Premiere Networks, only agreed to this radio move if Harvey gave up ownership of his company Steve Harvey Radio; he conceded.
Harvey is now trying to distance himself from Trump. It’s a different tone than he originally took for taking the meeting earlier this year. He’s experiencing the backlash from the meeting at Trump Tower.
It’s a domino effect; the ratings for the Harvey-hosted “Family Feud” are on a downward spiral and the audience for the variety show “Little Big Shots” has dropped almost by half.
