"Celebrity Apprentice" finale ratings hit a new low

Though he insists his show is returning next year, Donald Trump got bad ratings news today

Published May 20, 2013 4:21PM (EDT)

                                (AP/Dan Hallman)
(AP/Dan Hallman)

The finale of "Celebrity Apprentice," up against tough competition in the form of ABC's Billboard Music Awards, won't give much confidence to those hoping for a 2014 season.

Though Donald Trump's team insisted to Salon that the show will be returning despite having been left off the NBC schedule, the ratings were down 24 percent from last year, with a mere 5.6 million viewers tuning in to see country singer Trace Adkins claim the top prize. Until today, last year's finale ratings had been the lowest in "Apprentice" history, at 6.8 million; before that, the 2011 finale ratings had been sharply down, too, coinciding with Trump's emergence as a leading voice of the "birther" movement.

There's some good news for Trump today, though; the big finale did see an increase over last week's penultimate episode.


By Daniel D'Addario

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Celebrity Apprentice Donald Trump