'McEnroe' averaged 75,000 viewers a night
NEW YORK -- From a TV standpoint, it was a straight-sets loss -- John McEnroe's talk show was axed Friday by CNBC after barely six months on the air.
McEnroe may have had more people watch his tennis matches -- in person -- than watch his talk show some nights.
The show was averaging 75,000 viewers a night, less than half of the viewership for business programming in the time slot before "McEnroe" went on the air. On some nights, it didn't get a Nielsen Media Research rating at all, meaning the audience was too small to measure.
It will be replaced next month by "The Big Idea," a talk show with advertising executive Donny Deutsch as host, which has run on CNBC occasionally as a special.
CNBC is happier with comic Dennis Miller, whose talk show is doing better in the ratings.
CNBC has been trying for the past two years to create a prime-time identity. Most of its business-oriented viewers flee when the workday's done.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press
