Banking on tabloid TV: As daytime shows languish, two new programs aim to entice viewers with established brands

Not so long ago, most television viewers were content to while away the midday hours watching soap operas, game shows and courtroom dramas.

Not anymore. Many of those daytime viewers now can instead catch up on high-end shows such as HBO's "Game of Thrones" on their DVRs, or stream the latest hot series on Netflix or Amazon. The radical shift in viewing habits has cut into the number of people watching traditional daytime TV. Viewing fell 4 percent in the 2016-17 season from the previous year. Among the 18-to-49 age group that advertisers covet, the drop-off was more dramatic, 7 percent.

Now some programmers are betting that a diet of celebrity gossip will draw viewers back. Starting next month, a daily half-hour program based on the New York Post's Page Six gossip column will come to Fox-owned TV stations.