Donald Trump bragged about his "ratings machine" prowess Friday, taking to Twitter to focus on reports that the latest version of the "Celebrity Apprentice" TV show he originated fared poorly Monday when it returned with new host Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" premiere drew an average audience of 11.08 million and a 4.5 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic, with its only real competition coming in the form of the Orange Bowl on Fox, Variety reports
By the time the last new episode of the series aired, in February 2015, it was down to 6.1 million viewers and a 1.7 in the demo.
"The New Celebrity Apprentice" — with the same format, same executive producer, but with Scharzenegger, a onetime movie star and California governor, as the new host — scored a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demo and 4.93 million viewers in Nielsen's preliminary ratings. That was down more than 43 percent from the last premiere in 2015.
Reuters contributed to this report.