CBS should send Gayle King into space more often.
The “CBS Mornings” anchor’s 11-minute ride into orbit on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin — with an all-female crew that included pop star Katy Perry and the Amazon founder’s fiancée Lauren Sanchez — earned the perennially last-place show a rare first-place finish.
However, the ratings boost was nearly as short-lived as King’s space jam, with the show quickly plummeting back to its lowly depths.
The widely-panned spectacle, televised live last Monday, drew roughly 3.9 million total viewers, rocketing past ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “Today,” which reeled in 2.7 million and 2.5 million viewers, respectively, according to the latest ratings from Nielsen.
It was the show’s best performance in total viewers since March 8, 2021, when King bestie Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attracted 4.82 million viewers.
But despite last Monday’s strong performance, “CBS Mornings” still finished third in total viewers for the week, Nielsen said.
The show co-hosted by King, Nate Burleson and Tony Dokoupil averaged 2.45 million viewers for the week, trailing “GMA” (2.7 million) and “Today” (2.5 million).
The star-studded team of women — that also included civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, ex-NASA engineer Aisha Bowe, and film producer Kerianne Flynn — became the first all-women crew to visit space since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova took a solo flight in 1963
Nonetheless, celebrities including Olivia Munn and Joe Rogan called out the ratings stunt.
“I know this is probably obnoxious,” Munn said on “Today With Jenna & Friends” on April 3, “but like, it’s so much money to go to space, and there’s a lot of people who can’t even afford eggs.”
“I think it’s a bit gluttonous,” the “Your Friends and Neighbors” star added at the time. “Space exploration was to further our knowledge and to help mankind.”
Perry in particular was mercilessly mocked for her antics during and after the voyage. The “Firework” singer brought a daisy — in honor of her young daughter, Daisy — on the flight and flashed it to the cameras as the crew floated around the capsule.
Upon landing back on Earth, the 40-year-old popped out of the capsule, dropped to her knees and kissed the Texas dirt.
King clapped back at the haters hours after the rocket safely landed.
“We can all speak to the response we’re getting from young women, from young girls, about what this represents,” King said.
Sanchez also hit back at critics.
“I get really fired up. I would love to have them come to Blue Origin and see the thousands of employees that don’t just work here but they put their heart and soul into this vehicle,” she said.
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