'Celebrity Apprentice' Ratings Increase Has to Please Donald Trump

"The Celebrity Apprentice" ratings for Sunday night were the best the show has had this season. These ratings will just about guarantee another season of the reality competition show, especially with the key demographic numbers the show is drawing on Sundays. This is one of the zaniest casts the show has put together yet, but it is again proving that viewers enjoy watching these lower level celebrities as they try to compete against each other for bragging rights. Maybe the chaos of the current season could make it the most-watched ever.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the ratings on Sunday, March 27, were even better than the 2010 version of the show. For the 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. timeslot on NBC, "Celebrity Apprentice" drew an estimated average ratings mark of 8.5 million viewers. That is an extremely impressive number for late on Sunday, and could actually make it one of the most-watched shows this week. There aren't as many shows which are getting double-digits in estimated viewers anymore, so a number like this is something both NBC and Donald Trump have to be pretty excited about.

Not every show is going to draw the 20-plus million viewers "American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars" bring in, but 8.5 million is a number that will continue bringing in the revenue for NBC. In addition to the estimated viewers, "Celebrity Apprentice" drew a demographic rating of 3.0 for the night in the key 18-49 demo. Numbers like that are what advertisers love to see, especially on a product-driven show like "Celebrity Apprentice," where challenges for the contestants often serve as a tie-in to new products getting released by big companies. It isn't just Donald Trump getting to spread his brand name through the show.

This year's cast has included (and still includes) quite a few contestants with the type of personalities which lead to drama in the reality competition. For those television viewers who haven't tuned in yet, this season has people like Gary Busey, Meatloaf, Star Jones, and Richard Hatch to bring the controversy with each new episode. Each week the celebrities are split into two teams, and they compete in business-oriented challenges where they try to create or sell products. The losing team has someone fired each week, and the leader of the winning team wins money which goes to a charity of their choice.

At the heart of "Celebrity Apprentice" is a great way to help charities through their representative celebrities, but most viewers tune in to see what's going to happen next. New episodes will continue to air Sunday nights on NBC at 9 p.m. PST/EST until the season finale.

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