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

 

Dr. Phil McGraw is proving Oprah taught him well when it comes to snagging must-see interviews. On today's episode of his No. 1-rated syndie talk show, McGraw will air the first part of an exclusive interview with Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the mastermind behind the Manti Te'o "catfishing" hoax that shocked America.

Last fall, Notre Dame football player Te'o revealed the back-to-back deaths of his grandmother and girlfriend were fueling his efforts to lead his college team to an undefeated regular season. What Te'o allegedly didn't know was that the "girlfriend" he'd met online, fell in love with over the course a two-year relationship and then grieved for, wasn't a girl at all.

McGraw appeared on Today to promote his exclusive with Tuiasosopo, sharing the young man's disturbing admission of being in love with his victim Te'o. Watch a clip from the Today preview, as well as a sneak peek from today's episode of Dr. Phil after the jump!  READ MORE

If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, did it really make noise? According to Deadline, Dr. Phil has been renewed though the end of the 2016-2017 season. Reportedly, the show has averaged 4.2 million viewers this season.

“Stations have really sat up and taken notice of the fact that Dr. Phil is the best news lead-in in the marketplace today,” said Joe DiSalvo, President of Sales at CBS Television Distribution.

Veteran syndicated talk show Dr. Phil won November sweeps for the first time in its 11-year run, according to Deadline. Reportedly, the chatfest pulled in a 3.2 rating.  READ MORE

Forget all the buzz about new talk shows from Katie Couric, Ricki Lake and Steve Harvey. Veteran trash TV talker Maury Povich is proving he’s still got game!

According to TV Week, Maury led all talk shows the week of September 17, among women 25-54, with a 1.7 rating in the demo, up from 1.4 last season. Among households, Dr. Phil leads the pack with a 3.1 average this season, followed by Live with Kelly and Michael at 2.6.

Photo credit: Maury

Katie pulled in the best ratings of a new talk show premiere since Dr. Phil with a 2.8 household rating. The Talk went makeup free to entice viewers into watching and earned a 37 percent increase year-over-year. However, Ellen’s premiere scored a 3.0 in households, making it very clear she isn’t going to be pushed aside by newcomers or stunts. According to E!,  Ellen’s demos were even better.

Even better was Ellen's dominance in the women 25-54 demo, scoring a 2.2 rating in the ever-important demo, a vast important over last season's 1.3 rating.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dr. Oz earned a 2.8 with its fourth season premiere and the format change of Anderson Cooper’s talk show helped Anderson Live gain “18 percent over a year ago.”

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