‘The View’ Trying to ‘Stay Relevant’ but ‘That Might Not Be Enough’ for Talk Show to Survive

The View is celebrating Vice President Kamala Harris‘ recent appearance on the talk show as a major win, but insiders exclusively tell Closer that it will take a whole lot more than that to turn the program around.

“Getting VP Harris on the show was a huge win for The View, its hosts and its producers,” says a source. “It was a big reminder that, on some level, the show still matters and can still be in the middle of the national conversation.”

However, the source reveals that the current 28th season of The View — which features panelists Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin — is still “a make-it-or-break-it moment for the show.”

“When you look around, there’s a lot of change happening in the morning TV space in general,” the insider explains. “Hoda Kotb exiting the Today show over salary issues was shocking to everybody on The View and a reminder that huge contracts like the one Whoopi Goldberg has enjoyed for the past several years may be going away.”

According to the source, “The mission on The View is to stay relevant, stay in the news and fight for the biggest guests possible all the way through to the spring. Unfortunately, that might not be enough.”

“This is a franchise in decline,” adds the insider, “almost any way you slice it.”

As The View entered its 28th season this year, the show moved into a new studio, but Joy, 82, admitted she’s not a fan of the new space.

During the October 3 episode of The View‘s “Behind the Table” podcast, Joy said, “I’ve rejected the building.”

The show’s new studio is located in the Walt Disney Company’s headquarters in Manhattan’s Hudson Square.

“I am never going to learn how to navigate the building, and I’ll tell you why,” the comedian explained. “I have all sorts of people helping me to find where I’m going — which means that I can talk to people — [but] it reminded me of when I was living in Los Angeles. I was so lonely. You get in your car. You don’t see anybody. And if you don’t have a plan, you’re screwed.”

Earlier this year, The View announced that it was making a big change ahead of season 28.

“After 10 years and 2,143 episodes, this is the last show we’ll do from this studio,” Sunny, 56, revealed during an episode of the daytime talk show on August 2.

“We’re sad to say goodbye, but we are thrilled to be moving to a brand-new studio downtown — brand-new, state-of-the-art — and we will see you there in September for the premiere of season 28!” she said.

“We’ve had to, for the past couple of weeks, box up things, get rid of things … We were allotted, each host, five huge cartons. I took up two, Sara took up all five and was looking for more!” Sunny shared.

For the first 17 years of The View, the show was taped at ABC Television Studio 23 in the Big Apple. In 2014, the program moved its set to ABC Broadcast Center.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.