The distinct sound of "ka-ching" reverberated around ABC’s "The View" Wednesday after Barbara Walters announced on the air that Whoopi Goldberg would be the show’s new moderator.

Advertisers began contacting the network to buy time in Ms. Goldberg’s Sept. 4 debut show even before the actress-comedian finished her first round of interviews about her new gig, according to Disney-ABC Television Group Daytime President Brian Frons.

After the nine-year chapter of Meredith Vieira as the smart-mom-next-door moderator and a single celebrity-feuding season with Rosie O’Donnell in the driver’s seat, Wednesday’s swift advertiser reaction augured good things for the Goldberg chapter on "The View."

Ms. Goldberg, who signed a multiyear contract with the network for an undisclosed sum, has done everything from a solo Broadway show to hosting the Academy Awards. She has won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Grammy and an Emmy and now is host of a three-hour daily radio show.

Ms. Goldberg has a broad appeal and has proven in her 24 appearances on "The View" that she is both audience-friendly and advertiser-friendly.

"It’s hard to give enough credit to her multidimensionality," said Ray Cole, chairman of the ABC Affiliate Relations Board, who is also president and chief operating officer of Citadel Communications and general manager of WOI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa. "Hers is a resume and track record very difficult to duplicate. She’s uniquely suited to fill that role. I think affiliates look forward to it."

While much attention was paid to increased ratings during Ms. O’Donnell’s headline-making season, most of the ad time had been sold before the increases registered and could be thoroughly monetized. Nielsen ratings among total viewers this season were up 19 percent, and this summer’s ratings are holding even with last summer’s despite Ms. O’Donnell’s absence.

Executive producer Bill Geddie cautioned against making too much out of ratings on any of the days Ms. Goldberg sat in as a guest host or as moderator. While the daytime audience is more driven by habit and familiarity than most other audiences, he said, it also may not be able to watch more than a couple of days a week.

According to one buyer, 30-second spots on the show have been selling for $10,000 to $11,500.

Mr. Frons said it’s entirely possible that the same ratings with Ms. Goldberg will command higher costs per unit.

"That’s the big up," Mr. Frons said. "Whoopi is certainly very advertiser-friendly,"

Shari Anne Brill, senior VP and director of programming for Carat, agrees.

"I think she will have her opinions. But I don’t think she does it to stir things up. I think she’ll understand the needs of the network. I think she would like this gig to work," Ms. Brill said, noting Ms. Goldberg "has a very real background."

"It helps that she is African American. It helps that she is a comic. And I think it helps most of all that she is a huge star. This is brand-new for us," Mr. Geddie said. "I think Whoopi Goldberg is one of these people who will fare very well over the long haul. The crew, I think, was ready to pick her up and parade her around. They were so happy to see her. She loves the crew and the crew loves her. It’s nice to see."

As for Ms. Goldberg, known for her strong work ethic (she just published a third book), adding an hour a day of live TV to her three hours of live radio is not a daunting prospect.

"I’m not a big sleeper," she said during a telephone interview a few hours after she entered "The View’s" studio to a loud standing ovation, which she said was "really kind of moving. I like doing this show, I like that it’s not up to me to make it work. It’s up to us," she said.

Ms. Goldberg promised Barbara Walters, creator, executive producer and co-host of the show, that she would be edgy enough to be interesting but not so edgy as to create problems, such as she has occasionally encountered in her stage and standup performances.

"I know there are words I cannot say. I will not say them," she assured Ms. Walters and viewers after being announced last week. She said then that she, along with viewers, loves the show-opening "hit topics" segments but not the habit the co-hosts have of talking over each other.

She plans to continue doing "Wake Up With Whoopi," her radio show, syndicated nationally out of New York by Clear Channel, and has promised Ms. Walters and Mr. Geddie she will be backstage at "The View" two hours before showtime in order to prepare for hot topics and guests.

The next question is who will fill the chair once occupied by Star Jones, another lightning rod, and when.

Mr. Geddie and Ms. Walters stressed that they are in no hurry to make that decision.

Instead, expect to see guest co-hosts narrowed to a list of eight or 10 regulars who will appear more than one day a week.

"If it’s working OK and we like the feel of it, we’ll probably go on like this for a while," Mr. Geddie said.