According to a trend, the number of viewers of a popular TV show declines every week. Assuming the show will be aired for a considerable period of time, the approximate number of viewers, in millions, t months after the show was first aired, is shown by the following expression. 5.84(0.96)4t

Which statement below best describes the base, 0.96?
A.
the number of times the number of viewers declined since the show was first aired
B.
the number of viewers when the show was first aired
C.
the weekly decrease in the number of viewers
D.
the rate at which the number of viewers decline