Warner Bros.' Bethenny Passes Six-Week Test With Flying Colors

Now question is when show will launch nationally

By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/19/2012 5:52:26 PM

Warner Bros.' six week test of Bethenny, a talk show starring Real Housewife and Skinnygirl Bethenny Frankel, ends Friday, July 20. Now the talk turns to when the show will return.

With ratings that collectively improved time periods on Fox-owned stations in six markets -- New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas, Phoenix and Minneapolis -- Bethenny is expected to earn a pick-up from Fox and return for a national run.

No deal is in place yet, and several scenarios are under consideration, but Warner Bros. and Fox appear to agree that the show should come back, according to several sources. The question is when. Fox would prefer to keep the show on the air from this point forward, but the costs of doing that without yet having national advertising time included in the show are prohibitive.

Bethenny premiered on June 11, and through Wednesday, July 18, the show averaged a 0.9 rating among women 25-54, daytime's key demographic, representing an 80% increase over last year's time-period performance on those stations. Through week five, Bethenny improved on its lead-ins by 22% and over year-ago time periods by 57% to a 1.1 rating/3 share in households, according to Nielsen. Bethenny also has improved its July 2011 time periods by 80% among women 25-54 and 100% among women 18-49.