Yes, daytime has a new No. 1 talk show

There is a new queen of daytime TV, and it’s not Katie Couric, at least not yet.

During the most-hyped premiere week in years, veteran talk show host Ellen DeGeneres topped the competition for the first time, with “Ellen” finishing just ahead of the resurgent “Live! with Kelly and Michael.”

“Ellen” averaged a 2.9 household rating for the week ended Sept. 16, according to Nielsen metered markets, 0.1 ahead of “Live.”

Among the key women 25-54 demo, “Ellen” drew a 1.9, topping “Live” by 0.3.

Her win was a surprise. There had been so much attention focused on the new shows, including the premiere of Couric’s highly anticipated “Katie” and the return of host Ricki Lake to syndication, that DeGeneres seemed more of an afterthought.

But she continued the momentum gained last season, when “Ellen” moved into a number of the plum timeslots vacated by Oprah Winfrey in top markets across the country.

“Katie” did well in her first week, too, though her ratings dipped following a very strong first day, when she tied for the best talk show debut since “Dr. Phil” 10 years ago.

Couric’s show averaged a 2.3 for the week after premiering to a 2.8. She finished fourth overall for the week, behind “Ellen,” “Live” and “Dr. Phil,” and was easily the No. 1 new talk show.

Among women 25-54, “Katie” was third for the week with a 1.2, even topping “Dr. Phil,” last season’s No. 1 talk show among households.

“Live” continued its strong start to the season, placing second for the week in households and women 25-54.

The program, which like “Katie” is distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, actually scored the best debut of any show this season during the week ended Sept. 9, when Michael Strahan was introduced as the program’s new co-host.

“Live” averaged a 3.1 that week, before most of the talk competition had returned.

“Dr. Oz” rounded out the top five among households with a 2.2.

Among the new talk shows, “The Steve Harvey Show” placed second with a 1.4 household rating and 0.9 in women 25-54, finishing seventh overall. The show has made strong improvements on both its lead-in and last year’s timeslot average.

“Jeff Probst” and “Ricki” got off to slower starts, drawing a 0.8 and 0.7, respectively, in households and ranking in the bottom three.

“Ricki” was hurt a bit by a retransmission dispute in New York City between the station that carries her, WPIX, and Cablevision. The spat kept her program off the air in 40 percent of the country’s No. 1 market.

Tags: debut, ellen, households, katie, katie couric, live with kelly and michael, Michael Strahan, new talk shows, new york city, premiere, premiere week, syndicated talk shows, talk show, talk show ratings, talk shows, tops, tv, WPIX