Ratings: Viewers prefer gossip to Craig's "Kilborn File"

Looks like Fox's experiment with "late-night style comedy before dinner" may be coming to an end soon. Five weeks into its six-week test run, Craig Kilborn's "Kilborn File" hasn't been discovered by many summertime TV viewers.

According to Broadcasting & Cable, the comedy program "is averaging a 0.9 rating/2 share weighted metered market average, according to Nielsen Media Research, across Fox-owned stations in seven markets. That's down 53% from the show's 1.9/4 average lead-in and 47% compared to last summer's 1.7/4 average in the time slots."

Most channels were airing sitcom reruns, including "The Simpsons" and "Seinfeld," in the slot prior to the debut of "The Kilborn File."

Craiggers' weakest markets are L.A. and Boston. On KTTV Los Angeles, where the show airs at 6:30 PM, "the show averaged a 0.6/1, a 54% drop from its 1.3/3 lead-in and a 65% decline from last summer's 1.7/4." On WFXT Boston at 7 PM, "the show averaged a 0.6/1, down 50% from its 1.2/3 lead-in and 60% from last summer's 1.5/3." In both markets, Kilborn's lead-in is gossip show "TMZ."

His strongest performance came in Detroit, where the show airs at 7:30 and "had by far its best lead-in" -- you guessed it, "TMZ" again. Apparently they really like gossip in Motown. "Kilborn averaged a 1.4/3. Similarly to the other markets, that's a 52% loss from its 2.9/6 lead-in and a 39% difference from last summer's 2.3/5."