Many daytime talk shows maintained or improved their ratings performance for the season for the week ending December 16--especially two high-profile shows: Warner Bros.' "Ellen DeGeneres" and CBS Television Distribution's "Rachael Ray."
"Ellen" went to the season high, improving 9% to a Nielsen Media Research 2.4 live-plus-same-day rating. "Ray" pointed up 5% to a 2.1, tying its best season number. NBC Universal's "Jerry "Springer" also grew 8% to a 1.4 rating.
Other talkers stayed about the same level: NBC's "Maury" at a 1.9; CBS' "Montel Williams" at a 1.5; NBC's "Martha" at a 1.2.
On the losing end were the top two talk shows: CBS' "Oprah Winfrey" at a 5.2 rating, down 5%, and CBS' "Dr. Phil" at a 4.5--a 6% drop. Morning talkers: Disney-ABC's "Live with Regis and Kelly" lost 3% to a 3.1. Warner Bros.' "Tyra Banks" dropped 8% to a 1.1.
Rookie shows did well to stay in the game: Warner Bros.' magazine "TMZ" held at a 2.0 rating. NBC's "The Steve Wilkos Show" was flat at a 0.9, while Program Partners' "Merv Griffin's Crosswords" grew 13% to get to 0.9.
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All major syndicated game shows improved: CBS' "Wheel of Fortune" climbed 3% to an 8.1. CBS' "Jeopardy!" went up 2% to a 6.6. Disney-ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" hit a 3.2, after a 7% gain. Debmar-Mercury's "Family Feud" grew 6% to a 1.9.
This season's new off-network sitcoms continued their neck-and-neck race: Warner Bros.' "Two and a Half Men" was unchanged at a 4.9, which led all sitcoms. Twentieth Television's "Family Guy" grew 7% to a season-high 4.8.