EXCLUSIVE: Shush...don't tell Rosie! ABC honchos are secretly wooing Sherri Shepherd and Joy Behar back to The View as ratings continue to tumble
- ABC brass are convinced that Sherri or Joy would bring back fans who have abandoned the show
- Behar guested on the The View to promote her one-woman show and the feedback was tremendous
- Sherri will be harder to win over
- The View is being beaten by Wendy Williams and The Real in the important 18 to 34 demographic
- Rosie O'Donnell hates every idea that isn't hers - and she hasn't been told about ABC's plan
Will Sherri Shepherd or Joy Behar be lured back to The View? One of them will, if ABC brass have anything to say about it.
MailOnline can disclose that they have approached the former View hosts about the prospect of returning to the faltering show. And Rosie O'Donnell is out of the loop.
The View made its fall debut on Sept. 16 to stellar ratings with the new cast of Rosie, Nicolle Wallace, Rosie Perez and returning moderator Whoopi Goldberg.
But that excitement soon wore off, as viewers tuned out and ratings plunged below those of the show's last season with Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, Barbara Walters and Jenny McCarthy.
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Save the day: ABC execs believe Sherri Shepherd or Joy Behar would give ratings a much needed boost
Ready for a fight: Sources says Rosie will be none too pleased if decisions are made behind her back
In a major move, ABC has shifted the show from its entertainment department and moved it to the ABC News division because the network is concerned about the show's direction.
Now that ABC News is involved, executives are have been trying to get one of the show's former co-hosts to return in an effort to boost ratings.
Rosie hates everything that isn't an idea of hers, but she's not aware of this, say network insiders. Rosie doesn't have the dominance over them that she did with ABC Entertainment.
Sources close to ABC News tell MailOnline that the network is interested in either Sherri or Joy returning to the show to bring back former viewers.
'Both Sherri and Joy had huge followings while on the show and their familiarity could be just the thing to spark interest in the show again and generate some positive buzz,' the source explained.
MailOnline previously reported that The View was being beaten by the Wendy Williams Show and The Real in the most important 18 to 34 demographic.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The View is pacing downward for the fourth straight season and is 30 percent south of where it was five years ago in that younger demo.
Nielsen ratings reveal that the show is only scoring with a much older audience than the 25 to 55 demographic, not something that advertisers respond well too.
'ABC conducted focus groups on the new version of The View and found that the audience hates that the show seems so serious now so there's a charge to get back to the pop culture and social issues that younger viewers can relate to.
'That's why they're talking to Sherri about returning. She brought a fun, energetic spirit to the show and loved talking about the Kardashians and reality TV.
'Despite Rosie's reluctance to discuss that type of stuff, she doesn't have much room to fight it now that the ratings have dropped so badly,' the source explained.
Guest gig: ABC News had Behar come on The View to promote her new one woman show off Broadway to see how viewers would respond to her. The feedback was tremendous
Behar has also had some big pop culture moments while on the show, as she famously asked President Barack Obama if he knew who Snooki was during an interview.
'Joy stays abreast of the latest pop culture stories and issues. And she brings a unique perspective to topics, even when she cares less about them,' the source explained, before adding: 'That's how her signature phrase: 'so what? who cares?' came to be.'
ABC News had Behar come on The View to promote her new one-woman off-Broadway show - 'Me, My Mouth and I' - to see how viewers would respond to her. The feedback was tremendous.
The network is trying to figure out when they can get Sherri to return, but the day they initially wanted her she passed on the opportunity to do an exclusive interview with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America instead.
ABC has approached both former co-hosts agents about the possibility of returning in a more permanent capacity, and apparently Shepherd is showing resistance about coming back to the place she called home for seven years.
Sherri just signed on to join the cast of TV Land's The Soul Man for 10 episodes.
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