Ratings for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” have plummeted since last year’s toxic workplace scandal

Ellen DeGeneres is having a very tough time recovering from the toxic workplace scandal that rocked her show last year.

This year’s season premiere in September had high ratings as viewers likely were curious to see how the host handled the scandal and what she would say about it. Since then, it’s been a ratings free fall. The show has lost more than a million viewers. It is now averaging 1.5 million viewers over the last six months, down from 2.6 million in the same period last year.

The New York Times reports: The show’s loss of more than a million viewers translates to a 43 percent decline, representing a steeper drop than any of its competitors. This TV season, ‘Ellen,’ the winner of dozens of Emmys since its start in 2003, is no longer in the same league as traditional rivals like ‘Dr. Phil’ (3.1 million) and ‘Live: With Kelly and Ryan’ (2.7 million). Now it finds itself uncomfortably close to shows hosted by Maury Povich (1.4 million), Kelly Clarkson (1.3 million), Rachael Ray (1.2 million), Tamron Hall (1.1 million) and Jerry Springer’s former security guard Steve Wilkos (1.1 million).