Ellen To Take On Oprah, Judy At 4 P.M.

Warner Bros.’ The Ellen DeGeneres Show is returning to the 4 p.m. slot on NBC Universal’s WNBC, starting Feb. 18, confirmed WNBC spokeswoman Susan Kiel. Ellen will replace Program Partners’ Crosswords and a repeat of NBC Universal’s Access Hollywood, which will take Ellen’s 11 a.m. slot.

“Ellen is a strong show and a better lead-in to our 5 p.m. news,” said

Kiel

WNBC previously aired Ellen in the 4 p.m. time slot, where it struggled against syndication heavyweights CBS’ The Oprah Winfrey Show on WABC and CBS’ Judge Judy on WCBS.

Kiel

said the move was just a “temporary fix,” and another, unnamed show will take over for Ellen in early fringe come fall. The programming swap was first reported by the New York Post.

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.