Utahns still seem to be in love with native son and daughter Donny and Marie Osmond. On the other hand, we don't seem all that anxious to welcome prodigal daughter Roseanne with open arms.
Not surprisingly, the new "Donny & Marie" daytime talk show is proving to be rather popular. It's no blockbuster, but its 4.2 rating is good enough to win the weekdays-at-11-a.m. timeslot quite handily and provide a strong lead-in to Ch. 13's noon newscast.(That may account for the fact that Ch. 13's noon newscast beat Ch. 5's noon newscast in the November sweeps by a tenth of a rating point.)
"Roseanne" -- the other new nationally syndicated talk show hosted by a former Utahn -- isn't doing terribly well here. Its 1.9 rating puts it in fifth place for the hour, trailing such shows as "Days of Our Lives," "Maury Povich," "General Hospital," "Inside Edition," "Sally Jessy Raphael" and the kids' shows on Fox.
(Airing from 2:30-3:30 p.m., "Roseanne" overlaps the first or second halves of several other programs.)
Comparing the ratings of two shows in different time periods is the proverbial apples-and-oranges sort of situation because so many different factors are involved. But comparing the shares is more valid -- that number is the percentage of homes in which someone is actually watching TV at a particular time that is tuned in to a particular show.
"Donny & Marie" pulled an 11 share; "Roseanne" got only a 6.
And, while "Donny & Marie" is the fifth-most-popular TV talk show among local viewers, "Roseanne" is No. 19. (See accompanying box.)
"Donny & Marie" is doing better locally than it is nationally -- by a couple of rating points. Actually, so is "Roseanne" -- but only by a couple of tenths of a rating point.
Not that any of this is particularly surprising. The Osmonds have always been popular here, and Roseanne has not. (Which is no shock, given her consistent bad-mouthing of her home state.)
Plus, while "Donny & Marie" is at least entertaining (if a bit too goofy), "Roseanne" remains shrill, bizarre and annoying.