Fewer watch Trump hire ‘Apprentice’

NBC’s “The Apprentice” seems like it could use a few more “Friends.”

Donald Trump hired Kelly Perdew to be his new apprentice Thursday night before an average audience of 16.9 million TV viewers over three hours. That was about 11 million fewer viewers than tuned in last April to see who won the first version of the unscripted show, in which contestants vie for the New York business mogul’s favor.

The 40% audience slump can be partly attributed to the disappearance of NBC’s Thursday night stalwart “Friends,” which ended its run last spring. Still, NBC noted that Thursday’s audience was the largest on that night, excluding Olympics viewing, since May 13, when “Frasier” had its last telecast, and that the program ranked fourth this season among the 18-to-49-year-old viewers prized by advertisers.