"Dr. Phil" and "Ellen," with the latter touching a season high for the second consecutive week, was still off 8% from last year. It was the first time since the week
of Sept. 11 that "Ellen," which has has been hit by weaker lead-ins and head-to-head competition with "Oprah" in some large markets, finished in fourth place ahead of "Maury," the latter being
unchanged for the week, but down 18% from a year ago.
The only other talk show to improve was "Jerry Springer," up 6% to 1.7 from 1.6, but still down 19% year over year. Among other top talkers, No. 1 Oprah dropped 10%, while "Live with Regis & Kelly" fell the same amount.
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