Nationwide — The Queen Latifah Show, which has aired for two seasons on CBS and stars Queen Latifah herself as talk show host, has officially been canceled by Sony Pictures Television. A representative from the company said the show has been axed due to low ratings and high costs.Reportedly, production will continue until December 2014, and then the show will officially end although original episodes will continue to air until March 2015.
The show, which is mostly watched by a daytime audience of women 25 to 54, averages only about 1.4 million viewers per episode, which sounds like a lot but is simply not enough. According to marketing experts, the viewership is actually down 9% from last season, and it ranks last among all talk shows. Disney’s Live With Kelly and Michael and NBC’s The Today Show had much stronger followings.
Sony spokeswoman Paula Askanas released a statement saying: “We want to thank Dana (Queen Latifah), the producers and the entire staff of The Queen Latifah Show for creating a program that we are all very proud of.” She added, “Thank you also to our terrific station partners and advertisers who supported the show.”
The show, produced by Latifah’s own Flavor Unit Entertainment, and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, is not Latifah’s first talk show. She hosted another daytime talk show that also aired for two seasons from 1999 to 2001.