Dr. Phil’s decision to call it quits last week came months after producers tried and failed to revamp the long-running CBS daytime show in a desperate bid to lure back skittish advertisers.
After years of Dr. Phil McGraw staging dramatic “interventions” with wayward teens and squabbling families, CBS insiders were concerned that viewers and advertisers alike were lumping in Dr. Phil with other “quack doctors” who have left TV in recent years.
Despite the fact “Dr. Phil” averaged more than 2 million viewers in the 3 p.m. time slot — the second-highest-rated show in daytime behind ABC’s “Live with Ryan and Kelly,” according to Nielsen — the show had become radioactive for many sponsors, according to sources close to the situation.
CBS Source
“The advertising queue was all but dead. The show was relying on CBS to book ads as opposed to relying on Dr. Phil’s brand.”
CBS Source
“With that time slot, you start on home base. But he couldn’t hit any more home runs.”
A decade ago, top corporate brands that backed “Dr. Phil” included American Express, Allstate and General Mills.
But during an episode last week, commercial breaks were full of spots for vitamin supplements, personal injury law firms, public service announcements on vaccines and quitting smoking — as well as multiple in-house ads for other CBS shows.
CBS Source
“There was clearly a cash issue. They have not had advertisers of the past stay on. This includes household consumer brands.”
Insiders add that some at CBS believe McGraw’s TV persona had grown uncomfortably close to that of another daytime TV doctor — Mehmet Oz, who was running for a US Senate seat at the time of the season launch.
Ratings for Oz had begun to tank even before his candidacy for the Pennsylvania seat.
While McGraw’s ratings had dwarfed those of Oz, producers increasingly feared that viewers would “lump television doctors together.”
Dr. Phil’s wholesale rebranding efforts came after the show last summer cut 25 staffers in an effort to “streamline production to ensure longevity.”