Talk Shows Hold Steady For Holidays

Syndication programs showed plenty of resilience going into the holiday season.

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.

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