If John McEnroe were still playing tennis, his current performance would have him relegated to satellite events by now.

Fortunately for him, McEnroe is hosting a show on CNBC, the business-oriented cable network that's trying to establish a non-Wall Street identity for its prime-time lineup.

The network is preaching patience as it tries to revamp, and it's apparently practicing that virtue as well, because otherwise "McEnroe" would likely be gone by now. Its ratings are miniscule even by cable standards, and twice in the past month, it's recorded a 0.0 rating, meaning fewer than 75,000 households were tuned in to the show.

Still, CNBC is sticking by "McEnroe" and its prime-time strategy.

"It's something that's been a work in progress for about six months, since we launched 'Dennis Miller.' We're ... trying to build a different kind of programming mix," Bob Meyers, who oversees primetime at the network, tells The Hollywood Reporter. "I think we're on the right track."

"McEnroe" got off to an okay start in early July, debuting to about 266,000 viewers -- a small audience but not too far below expectations. Since then, though, it's failed to keep up with its lead-in, "Dennis Miller," and suffered the two dubious 0.0 ratings.

"When you're trying to do something as unique as we are during primetime, you have to look at it over time," Meyer says, again stressing CNBC's willingness to be patient. "We want to hold on to our business day audience and expand on that."