The majority of daytime talk's biggest names (Ellen DeGeneres and Kelly Ripa to name a few!) have skipped out on the Daytime Emmy Awards in recent years. Could that be changing this year? TV Guide Magazine's Michael Logan posed the question to Scot Safon, executive vice-president and general manager of HLN, which will air the kudocast on June 16.  Said Safon:

"We are outreaching as aggressively as possible to all the nominees," Safon says. "We want them to know this year is important. The themes that will rock this show are themes they will be proud to be associated with. To be in that room as part of the daytime community will be an incredible opportunity. The show is not just an announcement of winners. It's a celebration people are going to remember for a long time to come." READ MORE

 

The good news for NBC Universal is, their freshman talker Steve Harvey beat Disney-ABC's Katie in the Nielsens for the first time ever, the week ending March 31. The bad news is, Katie was in repeats for three out of five shows that week. READ MORE

Soap operas weren't the only daytime progams to see significant spikes in the Nielsens during the holiday season. Syndicated talk darling Live! With Kelly and Michael hit a season high the week ending Dec. 30. READ MORE

Regis Philbin dropped by Joy Behar: Say Anything on Current TV. During their chat, Behar asked Philbin what he thought of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney avoiding The View and his comment about the ladies being “sharp-tongued”.

Behar: “He was caught in that 47 percent, you know, Americans are on the boob speech, and he said that we were a bunch of sharped-tongue women at The View. What do you think of that?”

Philbin: “I think he is right on the money, I’m sorry. Way to go Mitt! No, you gals, I’ve always thought were very, very fair.”

Behar also didn’t pass up the chance to asked Philbin what he thinks of Kelly Ripa’s new co-host Michael Strahan. During the segment Philbin reminded Behar, as only he could, how Ripa owed everything to him. Watch the clip after the jump! READ MORE

Michael Strahan joining Kelly Ripa as co-host of Live! With Kelly and Michael appears to have helped boost the morning talk show’s ratings. According to Deadline, Strahan’s premiere episode jumped 24 percent over last season’s premiere. It was also the second highest rating for Live! since Regis Philbin left the show.

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Michael Strahan joined Kelly Ripa as her official co-host today on Live With Kelly and Michael. As with all new TV marriages, there’s branding and merchandising to be done. It seems Ripa is already looking forward to new opportunities, namely to promote the gap in Strahan’s smile!

The Huffington Post recounts Ripa and Strahan’s thoughts on the topic after Live! With Kelly and Michael's first episode.

Strahan said once he was in Ripa's arms, he started calming down and flashing that famous gap-toothed smile.

"I'm looking forward to the merchandising and the branding of the gap," Ripa said. "I want the 'Mind the gap' t-shirt -- I look forward to that, the branding of our show."

"We are now a gap-friendly show," Strahan said to the audience after taping his first episode. "Never seen so many gaps."

Photo of Michael Strahan by PR Photos READ MORE