“Live with Kelly and Ryan” tops talk shows in Thanksgiving week

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending December 1.

Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest have plenty for which to be thankful.

Their Live with Kelly and Ryan (2.1 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, steady with the week before) remained at its season high and was the number one talk show for the Thanksgiving holiday session ending December 1. That’s the first time usual leader Dr. Phil (2.0, down 13%) did not finish first since the week ending August 7, 2016.

Ellen DeGeneres (2.0, up 18%) was also in the picture, tying “Phil” for second place.

Ratings for the frame were shaken up since many – but not all – shows were able to exclude the very low-rated Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday from their averages. Notably “Dr. Phil,” which had led the talkers for the previous 168 weeks, was not able to exclude either lightly-viewed day from its average. Still, America’s top doctor only missed the win by a tenth of a point.

Game shows were also hit hard. Jeopardy (5.9, down 6%), Family Feud (new season low 5.3, down 10%) and Wheel of Fortune (new season low 5.2, down 17%) all lost ground.

On the positive side syndication’s most watched and most successful show Judge Judy (6.9, up 10%) had a rousing week, destroying all rivals and ruling the entire ratings chart for the 17^th time in the past 18 weeks.

Among the major rookies the already-greenlit for year two Kelly Clarkson Show (1.4, up 8%) was the highest rated new show of the season by open daylight for the 12^th week in a row, drawing a crowd of approximately 2.0-million daily viewers.

Tamron Hall (1.0, steady) continued to chalk up very respectable numbers, holding its season high and ranking second among all newcomers.

Mel Robbins (0.4, unchanged), a third new talker, ran far behind the top two.

Meanwhile potential future magazine entry Central Ave (0.8/2 weighted metered market five-week average, down 27% from both lead-ins and November 2018 time periods) completed its test run, which began November 4.