The View's Ratings are Up, Advertisers are Fleeing

There's a fine line between courting controversy in order to get free publicity and going too far, and The View is flirting with that line as it deals with the fallout over controversial comments made by its hosts last week.

In a segment last week reviewing the Miss America competition, View hosts Michelle Collins and Joy Behar mocked one of the pageant contestants, Kelley Johnson, who performed a monologue about her job as a nurse. Collins was dismissive of the significance of the monologue, and Behar questioned why Johnson was wearing a "doctor's stethoscope" on stage as part of her nurse's uniform. The comments sparked an angry backlash from nurses and their supporters, who pointed out that a stethoscope is a vital tool even for nurses as they do their jobs.

In the wake of the controversy, Behar and The View were apologetic. The show invited nurses to the stage to show how much the hosts love and respect the profession. That wasn't enough, however, to keep several sponsors, including Johnson & Johnson, Eggland's Best, Snuggle, Party City and McCormick, from pulling their ads from the show.

Ironically, The View has been on a ratings high since its season premiere. The show has averaged more than 2.5 million total viewers per episode, a viewership that's the biggest the show has seen in several months. Even more ironically, the most-watched episode of premiere week was one that featured Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, an outspoken figure who is generally not loved by professional women.

As the nursing controversy plays out, the loss of advertisers may be more costly than ABC is comfortable with, but for now, the numbers are in the show's favor.