Whoopi Goldberg is more powerful than ever at “The View,” after her week-and-a-half suspension translated to the show’s worst ratings of the season.
A well-placed source told The Post that “The View” moderator returned to work with a big grin on her face because the ratings fell in her absence — and rebounded at least some of the way when she returned.
“She’s strutting around the place,” the source said. “She’s peacocking.”
During the full week Goldberg was missing in action, “The View” lost 283,000 viewers, giving it a season-low in total viewers, among women aged 18-49 and among women aged 25-54.
In Goldberg’s first week back, “The View” added 113,000 viewers week-to-week — or 2.3 million viewers, which marked the biggest week-to-week gain for any daytime broadcast series. It wasn’t enough to get viewership back to pre-suspension levels, but it was still a big boost for network bigs to notice.
“With Whoopi out from the show on suspension, the ratings dropped to the lowest in total viewers and key demos of the season,” an insider explained. “At the end of the day, TV is a business. The only thing that really matters is ratings.”
ABC did not comment. A rep for Goldberg did not return requests for comment.
As The Post previously reported, Goldberg was “livid” and was telling coworkers she was going to “quit” the show after ABC News suspended her over controversial comments she made about the Holocaust– even after she apologized on air.
But the source said Goldberg’s anger has turned into joy after the ratings “proved” to her bosses “how valuable she is.”
The “Sister Act” star sparked outrage when she claimed on a Jan. 31 episode that the Holocaust was “not about race.” The next day she apologized, saying it was indeed about race because Hitler and the Nazis considered Jews to be an inferior race. But later that night she was suspended by the network.
Goldberg’s boss, ABC News president Kim Godwin, called the comments about the Holocaust “wrong and hurtful.”
“While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments,” Godwin said. “The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.”
Goldberg came back to the show on Feb. 14. “We’re going to keep having tough conversations,” she said at the time. “In part, because that’s what we’ve been hired to do.”
According to TV ratings agency Nielsen, during Goldberg’s absence “The View” lost 283,000 viewers, for the week of Feb. 7 -11, turning in 2.2 million viewers. That compared with 2.5 million from the prior week (Jan. 31- Feb. 4), which included two days with Goldberg on air.
Nielsen reported during the full week when Goldberg was out, the daily talk show experienced a season-low in total viewers. Since Goldberg returned “The View” rebounded during the week of Feb. 14-18, adding 113,000 viewers week-to-week for a total of 2.3 million viewers.
“It turns out that getting kicked off the show was the best thing that happened to her,” the source said. “Now she is more powerful than ever and has the receipts to prove it.”
The strong results may help Goldberg get an even richer contract. The moderator inked a four-year deal last September, according to Deadline. Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, it is rumored Goldberg nets between $5 million to $8 million a year.
“Whoopi is untouchable,” the source said. “She’s the queen bee.”
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