‘The Apprentice’ ratings plunge

Thu., June 8, 2006

New York Daily News The Spokesman-Review

Donald Trump has no fear of hearing his own catchphrase – “You’re fired!” – at the next NBC boardroom meeting, despite a decline in ratings for “The Apprentice.”

The number of viewers has dropped from 28 million for the season one finale in 2004 to less than half that for the last show of the contest’s latest season on Monday.

Only 11.2 million people saw recruitment consultant Sean Yazbeck beat Brooklyn business analyst Lee Bienstock to become The Donald’s fifth apprentice.

“Season one was a phenomenon,” Trump said in a phone interview from Los Angeles, where he’s filming the sixth season. “It was the biggest show on television, and every show goes down, no matter how successful.

“It’s always tough when we’re competing against season one, where we had 28 million people watching. (On Monday) we had a very high rating. We were the number two show of the week, and then I have to talk about failing.”

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