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week for 'Dr. Oz'


Averages a 2.3 household rating, tying 'Rachael Ray'

Oct 1, 2009

The two most successful talk show debuts over the past decade had one thing in common: Oprah Winfrey, whose Harpo Productions produces both "Dr. Phil" and "Rachael Ray."

Now add "Dr. Oz" to that list.

The frequent Winfrey guest scored the best debut for any syndicated daytime talk show since "Ray" in 2006, averaging a 2.3 household rating for the week ended Sept. 20, according to Nielsen.

That tied "Ray's" debut week, and it marked the second-best debut for any talk show in seven years, since "Dr. Phil" bowed in 2002 with a 4.4 rating.

Since then, daytime ratings have fallen considerably for even the most popular shows. "Phil" himself was down to a 2.5 during the same week "Oz" debuted.

"Oz" was the No. 3 talk show for the week, tying with "Live with Regis and Kelly."

The two shows finished behind "Phil" and "Oprah Winfrey," who soared 39 percent over last year's debut week to a 6.1 thanks to her much-hyped interview with Whitney Houston.

Among women 25-54, "Oz" did even better, tying with "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" for second with a 1.5, behind "Oprah" with a 4.5.

Though much has been said about Winfrey's ratings declines the past few years, there's no arguing that she's still the queen of daytime. Having her endorsement is priceless for a syndication rookie, because she is willing to hype the new shows on her own program.

Dr. Mehmet Oz has been a regular on "Oprah" for years, and Winfrey had him on the show just weeks before his own program launched.

The bulk of the other syndicated daytime shows didn't launch until last week, so national ratings won't be available for several more days. But it seems doubtful anyone will outdo "Oz."

By comparison, no new show launched to better than a 1.6 last year.

 

SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending September 20, 2009

#

 PROGRAMS

Syndicator

Households

US Rtg%

(000)

1

ESPN NFL REGULAR SEASON

ESP

9.6

10981

2

ESPN NFL REGULAR SEASON 2

ESP

7.9

9105

3

OPRAH WINFREY SHOW

CTD

6.1

7065

4

WHEEL OF FORTUNE

CTD

6.0

6843

5

JEOPARDY

CTD

4.9

5590

6

TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)

WB

4.1

4744

7

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)

CTD

4.0

4620

8

JUDGE JUDY (AT)

CTD

3.9

4499

9

FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)

2/T

3.5

4071

10

INSIDE EDITION (AT)

CTD

3.2

3647

11

CSI NEW YORK-SYN(AT)

CTD

3.1

3535

12

SEINFELD (AT)

SPT

3.0

3477

13

EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)

CTD

2.9

3329

14

GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)

WB

2.5

2841

14

DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)

CTD

2.5

2821

14

SEINFELD-WKND (AT)

SPT

2.5

2925

17

LAW & ORDER:SVU-SYN (AT)

NBU

2.4

2797

18

FRIENDS (AT)

WB

2.3

2597

18

KING OF THE HILL-SYN(AT)

2/T

2.3

2658

18

KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT)

SPT

2.3

2691

18

DR. OZ SHOW (AT)

SPT

2.3

2652

18

LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY

DAD

2.3

2694

23

CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)

CTD

2.2

2480

23

MILLIONAIRE (AT)

DAD

2.2

2521

25

ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW

WB

2.1

2385

25

HOUSE-SYN (AT)

NBU

2.1

2394

25

ACCESS HOLLYWOOD (AT)

NBU

2.1

2392

25

TMZ (AT)

WB

2.1

2392

Source: Nielsen Media Research

 




Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer for Media Life.




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