Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest Specialize in Small Talk and Big Ratings<br />That’s what you’re signing up for.”<br />Through the first 10 weeks that have pitted Ms. Ripa<br />and Mr. Seacrest against Ms. Kelly in the 9 a.m. slot, the ratings provide evidence that audiences agree with the strategy.<br />It seems that what works at 9 a.m. is a liability in late night: NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” has lost viewers as it sticks<br />with a fun-and-games atmosphere, while its more politically engaged competitors, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS and “Live!<br />Ms. Ripa, a former soap opera actress, joined “Live” in 2001 as Mr. Philbin’s co-host, replacing Ms. Gifford.<br />And Mr. Gelman is still here today, three decades later, as he oversees an incarnation of “Live” co-hosted by Kelly Ripa<br />and Ryan Seacrest, who are keeping the mood light in a time of divisive politics and fraught discussions of social issues.<br />Across her 16 years on “Live,” Ms. Ripa has often mined her life with her husband, the actor Mark Consuelos, and their three children for material.
