tumultuous end to her last tv stint at "the view" where rosie publicly feuded with her co-host elisabeth hasselbeck like i'm 6 -- >> reporter: and the show's creator barbara walters. >> but i resent it. >> reporter: this rosie show was supposed to be a return to her roots. >> she likes kids, music, playing. >> reporter: rosie off the cuff. >> not like somebody's water broke and the baby's breach, it's just a game. >> reporter: it sounded a lot like this rosie o'donnell show which made the host a household name and brought in 5 million viewers a day, something the struggling own network desperately needs. but despite the old recipe, a band, a live audience and games, even prime real estate in oprah's old studio, it wasn't enough. to make matters worse, the 7:00 p.m. time slot meant o'donnell's core audience, stay at home moms, weren't watching. >> you had rosie doing this big, expensive talk show every night, and she was getting like 150,000 viewers. which didn't justify her contract or the staff that was needed to put on such a big talk show every day. >> reporter: that's when executives and o'donn