Martha's TV return isn't getting the job done

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2005 | by Gary Levin

To judge from her media coverage, Martha Stewart should have been as big as Desperate Housewives. But the doyenne of domesticity's carefully constructed TV comeback has met with a chilly reception from viewers.

NBC's spinoff of The Apprentice, with Stewart subbing for Donald Trump, averaged a measly 6.2 million viewers Wednesday (8 p.m. ET/PT), a fourth-place finish that was down 13% from last week's already-low debut.

And Martha, her new live syndicated show, drew 2.4 million viewers in its first week, then dipped slightly last week. Though the showing is respectable for the daytime, it's a fraction of the audience for Oprah and Dr. Phil and ranks behind such below-the-radar staples as Maury and Montel.

"Given her notoriety and all the publicity surrounding...