From I think Chelsea the new iteration of LMAD is doing well in daytime so not only is it less expensive to produce than a soap opera with the sets and props and actors, but it appears to be a one-two punch with TPIR, though other places it splits into different dayparts.
It's not a consistent hit in every market but in the markets it does do well - it does exceptionally well. In Seattle clearing at 9AM it was routinely one of the most watched non-sports shows in any daypart on affiliates, usually just behind Price. I can't speak for other markets but I would be willing to put a couple of pennies on the line that many of it's stronger performing cities are the pre-Price time period.
It's an hour that's not news, that requires no previous investment in ongoing storylines, and that you can leave on in the background and dip back into pretty much any time and still have fun. Wayne Brady still has exceptionally high favorability numbers among Millennials and Gen X thanks to Whose Line and some of his other work.
The 1990-91 version also had the misfortune of running during the era when local stations would go all out for an even modestly rated syndicated show, since that meant around 8-9 minutes more of local ad revenue per half hour. (Ballparked number). A local break in a network show is usually either 1:05 or 1:35; clearing a syndicated show meant those stations got the vast majority (or all) of the ad placements. Consequently LMAD90 only cleared in 75% of households give or take; a few markets changed around either direction in September, and a couple came back when Monty did. Whereas today if LMADs total clearance isn't AT 100%, it's near it.
Virtually every market now takes every show, even if they don't always air at the same time in part because of syndication being dead outside of around ten shows, while clearance issues were something that dogged a number of daytime games of the late 70s until the near-death of daytime games in 1993-94. NBC daytime as a whole struggled in generally by the 90s. Monty himself is quoted in Adam Nedeff's book as saying "NBC couldn't get a rating in daytime no matter what they put on. If they staged World War III on NBC, it wouldn't get a rating." (In same, Ron Greenberg noted that the show aired at 2AM in LA and that "I don't know what kind of ratings they were expecting").
For what it's worth (again, Adam's book), NBC had been willing to go week to week with the show after mid-January 91 with a five week minimum, but Monty turned them down, noting that NBC was contractually obligated to offer them 26 weeks (which was not happening), that the production at Disney was costing them - and was keeping Monty stuck in Florida right as Monty himself had little interest in hosting an extended run.
/tangent: I know that with Dick Clark Productions' involvement it might have clearance or cross-ownership issues, but LMAD '90 is on my top ten of shows I wish Buzzr would run that they never have. I actually adore that version of the show, I think it's the best set the show ever had, the energy's great, Bob's underrated and had impossible shoes to fill, and it's something I'd love to see again in entirety.
