'Katie' Opens to Biggest Talk Numbers in a Decade

Disney-ABC's Katie opened to the best daytime talk
numbers since Dr. Phil premiered in 2002, tying Rachael Ray's first-day
ratings in 2006 with a 2.8 rating/8 share primary-run household average among
the weighted metered markets, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That's up 22% from its year-ago time period averages of
2.3/6 and up 12% from its lead-in of 2.5/8, which is General Hospital in
many big markets. Katie, starring former Today and CBS Evening
News
anchor Katie Couric, launched primarily on ABC-owned and affiliated
stations across the country.

Katie won its time period on WABC New York and KABC
Los Angeles, and finished first or second in all of the top 15 markets. Among
women 25-54, the show turned in a 1.6/9, up 14% compared to last September.

CBS Television Distribution's The Jeff Probst Show opened
at a 1.0/3 average household rating for its primary runs in the weighted
metered markets. That's off 9% from its 1.1/3 year-ago time period average and
down 29% from its 1.4/4 lead-in.

Among women 25-54, Probst, starring the host of CBS'
long-running Survivor, was up 40% over its year-ago time period average,
going form a 0.5/3 in Sept. 2011 to a 0.7/4. On WNBC New York, where it
replaced Sony's Nate Berkus at 2 p.m., the show grew 125% in the key
female demo, moving to a 0.9/6 from a 0.4/3. Probst is cleared on
NBC-owned stations in the top markets.

Twentieth's Ricki Lake opened at a 0.6/2 household
average for all telecasts in the weighted metered markets, down 40% from its
year-ago time period average of 1.0/3 and down 33% from its lead-in, a 0.9/3.
Among women 25-54, Ricki did a 0.3/2,
down 25% from its year-ago time period average of 0.4/3.

Ricki Lake is cleared primarily on Fox and
Tribune-owned stations, and in New York, it airs on Tribune-owned WPIX at 4
p.m. Right now, Ricki Lake can't be seen by 40% of the New York market
due to Tribune's ongoing dispute with Cablevision over carriage fees.

Warner Bros.' Anderson Live!, which rebooted to a
live format and added new guest co-hosts, averaged a 1.3 rating/4 for its
primary runs, up 18% from last September and even with its lead-in. In New
York, Anderson Live! moved off of WPIX, where it was replaced by Ricki,
and on to Fox's WNYW.

NBCU's Steve Harvey, now in its second week, averaged
a 1.5/4 for its first five days on the air, up 50% from September 2011 time
periods, which were a 1.0/3 household average, and up 25% from its 1.2/4
lead-ins. On Monday, Sept. 10, Steve Harvey held that rating. Steve
Harvey
is proving appealing to women, significantly improving year-ago
performance among all of the key female demographics. Among daytime's key demo
of women 25-54, Harvey is averaging a 1.0/6, up 100% from last year's
0.5/3.

Paige Albiniak

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.