TLC to Re-Launch ‘Jon & Kate' as ‘Kate Plus 8' in November

Related: How Will Jon and Kate's Split Play Out on TLC?

TLC will re-launch its reality hit Jon & Kate Plus Eight in November, the network announced on Sept. 29. The new show comes in the wake of the messy split between Jon and Kate Gosselin, the Pennsylvania parents of eight children. The new version of the show will focus on Kate Gosselin's life as a single mom, and will be called Kate Plus Eight.
"Given the recent changes in the family dynamics, it only makes sense for us to refresh and recalibrate the program to keep pace with the family," Eileen O'Neill, president and general manager of TLC, said in a statement. "The family has evolved and we are attempting to evolve with it; we feel that Kate's journey really resonates with our viewers."
O'Neill added that TLC is developing a new Kate Gosselin project for 2010.
Jon Gosselin will continue to be featured on Kate Plus Eight, but the show will focus on Kate Gosselin's role as primary caregiver to the couple's sextuplets and twins.
The Gosselin's became tabloid staples when their marriage began to unravel earlier this year. Pictures of Jon Gosselin with various young women became a regular feature of the feeding-frenzy coverage, all of which translated into monster ratings for a handful of episodes of the TLC reality program.
A massively hyped special installment last June, when the show returned after the couple had announced their intention to split, attracted more than 10 million viewers. But since then, the show's ratings have experienced a precipitous and inevitable decline.
The Sept. 21 episode pulled in 1.7 million viewers. Since August the show has lost 62% of its audience.