Top Talkers ‘Phil,’ ‘Live,’ ‘Ellen’ Surge

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending November 14, 2021.

The top three talkers came up big in the session ending November 14 with leader Dr. Phil (new season high 1.9 live plus same day national Nielsen, up 6% from the week before) setting the pace. This was the prolific Carla Pennington-produced chat fest’s biggest rating since the week ending February 28 and marks the ninth week in a row that “Phil” has been either first or tied for first in the often hotly-contested category. Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.7, up 6%) snared second place.

Ellen DeGeneres (1.0, up 11%) matched its highest rating of the year, taking over sole possession of third place in its 19^th and final season. Weekly national numbers for the show’s November 18^th Meghan Markle exclusive will not be available until next week, however the Duchess of Sussex sent Ellen’s overnights up 50% in New York and 133% in Los Angeles on the day of her appearance.

Further down in the rankings Wendy Williams (new season low 0.7, down 22%) featured Michael Rapaport filling in as the week’s guest-host. That tied Rachael Ray (0.7, unchanged) for sixth place, behind Kelly Clarkson (0.9, steady) and Maury (0.8, steady).

Judge Judy (new season high 4.9, up 2%) notched its strongest rating since the week ending July 18 and led the court shows for the 1,312^th consecutive trial.

Among game shows Jeopardy (5.6, unchanged) held on to the lead with Ken Jennings at the podium, taking over from Mayim Bialik. All of the top six magazines were stable in households, but Extra exploded on the upside with a 50% increase in the advertiser-coveted W25-54 demographic.