Oprah Moves On

The Oprah Winfrey Show is ending after 25 years, throwing the daytime TV market into a tizzy as new and old programs fight for Oprah’s mantle and coveted time slots.  One contender for Oprah’s throne is none other than Rosie O’Donnell.

However, much has changed since O’Donnell’s first daytime talk show, the successful The Rosie O’Donnell Show which ran for six seasons from 1996 to 2002.  On the show, her playful banter with audience and guests earned her the title ”The Queen of Nice.”  More recently she has been engaged in a number of public spats with Donald Trump, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, among others.

While the details of O’Donnell’s proposed new show are still being ironed out, we wondered, how does Rosie stack up?

Does Rosie Measure Up?

Using E-Score Celebrity we compared appeal and attribute scores of Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell.  Among women 18-54, O’Donnell earned a top-two box appeal (”Like a lot/Like”) E-Score of 21% where Ellen and Oprah scored 64% and 52%, respectively.  O’Donnell’s articulate E-Score came in at 10% where Ellen and Oprah scored 18% and 29%.  O’Donnell’s funny E-Score of 37% is above Oprah’s 18% but bellow Ellen’s 74%.

From this comparison, we can see that Rosie is unlikely to simply reprise her previous format.  Viewers may see the ”Queen of Nice” days are behind her, and her E-Scores indicate a more polarizing personality.  With a profile similar to other polarizing figures like Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, is the new Rosie returning to TV at the right time, or does the daytime audience still require a kinder, gentler approach?