Celebrity Wheel of Fortune is ABC's quiet Friday success as The Golden Bachelor loses its shine

ABC’s fall schedule has drawn a clear divide between what’s working and what isn’t, according to The TV Ratings Guide.

While Celebrity Wheel of Fortune continues to deliver steady, cost-effective performance on Friday nights, The Golden Bachelor has lost much of its early magic, struggling to find its footing in its second season.

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune: ABC’s steady hand on Friday nights

For ABC, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune has become the kind of dependable performer that network executives love — consistent, inexpensive to produce and perfectly tailored to its time slot.

The network’s decision to move the series to Fridays at 8 p.m. was viewed by some as a quiet gamble, but it’s paying off.

The show’s ratings remain solid and stable, up slightly from Shark Tank’s first four episodes and matching last season’s performance.

It has proven to be an ideal Friday night anchor — light, family-friendly and familiar.

Unlike the network’s bigger-budget reality experiments, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune doesn’t rely on shock value or drama.

Instead, it thrives on comfort viewing, a formula that continues to resonate with audiences seeking something low-stress to unwind with at the end of the week.

While its numbers aren’t record-breaking, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune has held firm in a night traditionally considered difficult for live broadcast ratings.

Its retention and affordability make it one of ABC’s more valuable assets this season.

The network’s Friday reshuffle, which also shifted Shark Tank to 10 p.m., has quietly turned ABC into one of the strongest networks in that time block — a rare feat in 2025’s fragmented TV landscape.

The series, now entering another renewal cycle, has also helped solidify a strategy that sees ABC rotate between Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and Celebrity Jeopardy! in the same hour.

The network’s unscripted pairings have created a reliable rhythm of light entertainment programming — the kind of sustainable lineup that can survive even modest ratings fluctuations.

The Golden Bachelor: From breakout hit to fading franchise

If Celebrity Wheel of Fortune has been the unsung hero of ABC’s fall slate, The Golden Bachelor has become the season’s biggest disappointment.

Once hailed as a fresh, feel-good twist on The Bachelor franchise, the show’s second season has failed to recapture the excitement of its debut.

Its premiere fell more than 50 percent from its original season one opener, and the subsequent weeks have seen further erosion in both live ratings and delayed viewing.

The decline is significant enough to put the show’s future in question.

The sophomore slump was evident early. ABC’s choice to move The Golden Bachelor from its earlier slot to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. — a night already crowded with strong competition — has backfired.

The ratings drop has been steep, with the show sinking to one of the lowest averages among ABC’s unscripted titles this fall.

Compounding the problem is audience fatigue. After last year’s The Golden Bachelorette drew mixed responses and middling numbers, it’s become clear that viewers may be tiring of the “Golden” spin-offs.

The premise of senior-aged contestants finding love initially captured curiosity, but repeating the formula hasn’t delivered the same results.

Adding to the challenges, this season’s lead, Mel Owens, has faced negative headlines after making controversial comments about age and relationships — headlines that undercut the show’s wholesome, second-chance-at-love image.

For a franchise that relies heavily on warmth and relatability, the off-camera controversies have made an already struggling show harder to promote.

Where The Golden Bachelor once served as a bright spot for ABC’s reality slate, it now stands out as an outlier.

The rest of the network’s lineup — from Dancing with the Stars to Shark Tank and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune — has held steady or improved in key demographics.

ABC’s programming gamble

ABC’s fall season reveals two very different outcomes from its unscripted strategy.

The network’s quieter, steady-as-she-goes approach with Celebrity Wheel of Fortune has proven effective, while its attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle with The Golden Bachelor has fizzled.

With Celebrity Wheel of Fortune continuing to hold its ground and deliver a respectable performance on Fridays, the show is expected to be renewed without hesitation.

Meanwhile, The Golden Bachelor faces an uncertain path forward, as ABC weighs whether the “Golden” experiment has simply run its course.

Stay tuned for more updates.