Reality Check Halts Momentum at Martha Stewart

Mass Appeal

Regardless of how the revenue will be split, some question just how successful a prime-time show with Stewart would be. Ratings of the second season of The Apprentice are down from the first season, Drewry noted. And Trump clearly has prime-time appeal. Does Stewart?

"To what extent does a guy who watches The Amazing Race or Survivor or The Apprentice watch Martha Stewart? I don't see that happening" said Scott Rothbort, president of LakeView Asset Management and a contributor to TheStreet.com's sister site Street Insight. "She's not the most entertaining person, unless you want to serve some sort of hors d'oeuvres." (Rothbort does not own shares of Martha Stewart Living, although he bought and sold the stock long amid the short squeeze last week.)

The direction of Stewart's company may be clearer after its upcoming earnings report, which will come out in about a month. At that point, the company will have to update investors on the status of its various divisions -- and show whether it is starting to turn things around.

"We can talk all we want about Mark Burnett doing a TV show," Rothbort said. "But I think we're going to find out that things are a lot worse than people are led to believe. We're going to find out that the lead time for any repair to that damage is a lot longer than people expect."

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