Trump's show fourth in timeslot despite strong lead-in

The author of "The Art of the Deal" couldn't capitalize on a different kind of "Deal" Monday night.

The fifth season of "The Apprentice" got off to a rather rocky start on its new night Monday (Feb. 27), drawing fewer than 10 million viewers despite a solid lead-in audience delivered by the return of "Deal or No Deal."

The Donald Trump-fronted "Apprentice," which has seen its ratings decline over its past two editions, hit a low point among adults 18-49, NBC's target demographic, for a regularly scheduled, non-holiday broadcast. It delivered a 4.0 rating in the demographic, compared to 4.6 for last fall's "Apprentice 4" debut, and drew about 9.8 million viewers overall.

The total-viewer number for "The Apprentice" was not far off that of its fall premiere (9.94 million); the fourth edition of the show ended up averaging just over 11 million viewers when all was said and done.

Trump in the past week has engaged in a war of words with fellow mogul Martha Stewart, who hosted her own "Apprentice" in the fall; he accused her of dragging down ratings for his show, among other things. Stewart shot back by calling Trump "mean-spirited."

The back-and-forth received considerable press coverage (this site being no exception), but that didn't translate to big audiences. In fact, "The Apprentice" finished fourth in its timeslot among adults 18-49, behind FOX's "24," CBS' "Two and a Half Men" and "Courting Alex" and ABC's "Bachelor" finale.

The results are especially disappointing given NBC's heavy promotion of the new "Apprentice" during its Winter Olympics broadcasts and the solid performance of "Deal or No Deal" in the hour before Trump's show. "Deal," returning to the network after a strong week-long run in December, brought in close to 13.5 million viewers and a 4.5 rating among adults 18-49.