‘Live With Kelly & Mark’ Retains Strong Daytime Audience As Consuelos Celebrates Co-Hosting Anniversary
17.04.2024 - 14:45
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: It’s officially been one year of Live with Kelly and Mark.
“I have to say it’s probably the fastest year of my life,” Consuelos told Deadline ahead of his April 17 anniversary of becoming the full time co-host to his wife, Kelly Ripa.
If someone had told Consuelos and Ripa one year ago they’d consider themselves a co-hosting match made in heaven, they likely wouldn’t have believed it. In fact, Ripa admits she was “staunchly against” the idea of having her husband by her side each morning on air.
“I just felt like we’re not that interesting, and we’re not a very controversial couple. We don’t really get up too much. I always liken us to watching paint dry,” she said.
But, eventually, she was convinced. After all, Consuelos had already guest co-hosted with her about 100 times over the years, and it had always worked well. So they decided to give it a try.
Now, Ripa is glad to say she was wrong. While the pair were apprehensive, audiences were not. It quickly became clear that something about the two of them on screen every morning clicked with Live viewers.
At a time when daytime talk shows are on a relative decline in viewership Live seems to have found the secret sauce to retaining its audience. This season, it is one of just two syndicated talk shows to improve on its average total viewership from the previous year.
“I do think that there is something very possibly relatable about our relationship. We have disagreements like a normal couple, and we’re not afraid to let them unfold on the air and in front of America, and I think people find a lot of themselves in that,” Ripa says, reflecting on how she’s changed her mind over the last year.
Executive producer Michael Gelman, who has been with the show