Michael Strahan's 'Good Morning America' Slot Scores Lower Ratings Than 'The Chew' Did Before Cancellation

Many fans were outraged when ABC canceled The Chew earlier this year, and it looks like the gamble may not have paid off, as the new hour of Good Morning America is reporting lower ratings.

ABC dropped popular day-time cooking show The Chew back in May to make room for an extra hour of Good Morning America called GMA Day, hosted by Michael Strahan. According to a report by Fox News, GMA Day is now pulling in an audience considerably lower than the one that The Chew was holding.

GMA Day reportedly has an average total audience of 1.76 million viewers, with a Nielsen rating to match. This is quite a loss for ABC in that time slot, as The Chew held onto 2.25 million average total viewers this time last year. Meanwhile, Strahan's old show, Live With Kelly, is now dominating with an average of 2.85 million viewers.

Naturally, a big part of the loss could be chalked up to The Chew's scandal with Mario Batali. The celebrity chef was fired after he was accused of sexual assault and harassment by multiple women, including several employees. Batali was a driving force for the show, and it was canceled not long after he was let go. This scandal could have driven fans away from ABC's daytime programming.

At the same time, GMA Day could just be going through growing pains. The show is not in an any danger, according to sources close to the production. Insiders told Fox News that no one — including Strahan — is worried about the numbers right now.

"Michael is having a great time working at GMA and GMA Day," they said. "He isn't worried at all. He recognizes that GMA Day is a new show, and sometimes it takes a minute to get it going. He loves working with Sara and the new team and is very happy being there."

They added that The Chew had a similar period of low ratings before it really started to pick up. Meanwhile, ABC News president James Goldston gave a statement to the site, assuring them that there was nothing to worry about.

"We're incredibly happy with Michael and Sara and their performance on the show," Goldston said. "We are two months in, ahead of schedule and right on track. Michael brings the leadership we know so well from his football days to the show — we couldn't be in better hands."

For some fans, GMA Day will never fill the void left by The Chew. When news of the cancellation broke, some were in an uproar, questioning why the show could not go on without Batali and wondering what purpose another hour of GMA would serve.

"I've stopped watching GMA for a long time because I can't stand it," one fan commented on PopCulture.com. "The fact that they chose to end one of the best cooking shows angers me. I don't watch ABC except for The Chew. They are right up there with CNN when it comes to very biased reporting. I can't believe it."