TV Ratings: 'The Real' Looks Like The Real Thing

The Warner Bros. syndicated TVtalk show featuring five ethnically diverse women has blasted out of the gate with a 0.7 rating among women 25-to-54 (the key daytime demo). That's is as good as or better than all of the half-dozen new entrants, including Meredith Vieira's talk show, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Real also is attracting a younger audience than its new rivals: Viewers' average age is 45 (compared with 61 for NBC's Meredith), younger than for any of the top 10 syndicated talk shows.

The show premiered Sept. 15 as an alternative to The View or The Talk, offering younger hosts from varied backgrounds. The hosts are Tamar Braxton, Loni Love, Adrienne Bailon, Jeannie Mai and Tamera Mowry-Housley.

While The Real's total household numbers are lower than Meredith's (1.0 vs 1.2), what matters to ad buyers is its strength in women 18-to-34, 18-to-49 and 25-to-54.

In females 18-to-34, as of Oct. 10, The Real had a rating of 0.7, compared with 0.3 for Meredith. In females 18-to-49, The Real again scored a 0.7, compared with 0.4 for Meredith.

And The Real is working even though it airs on independent or B-level stations in much of the country. While Meredith runs on strong network affiliates in 87 percent of major markets (anchored on the NBC stations), The Real is on network affiliates in only 12 percent of big markets. (However, that includes Fox stations in the largest cities.).

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