Warner Bros.’ The Ellen Degeneres Show got off to solid start Monday
with an overnight 2.1 rating/6 share in 53 metered markets, up 17% from its
year-ago time-period average and up 5% from its average lead-in.
The story wasn’t as good for NBC Enterprises’ Starting Over, which
launched with a 1.1 rating/4 share in 48 metered markets, down 15% from its
time-period average and down 26% from its lead-in.
Ellen performed best in Columbus, Ohio, where it averaged a 4.5/12 on
NBC-owned WCMH-TV at 4 p.m. It came in second to King World Productions’ Oprah,
still in repeats, but beat Universal Television’s Maury in head-to-head competition
and improved the time period by 18% over what Paramount Domestic Television’s Montel Williams
had been doing in the slot last season.
Ellen also came in first or second in 17 metered markets.
Starting Over’s best performance was in Jacksonville, Fla., where it
averaged a 2.9/9 on Gannett Co. Inc.’s WTLV-TV at 11 a.m. That was only good enough for
fourth place in the time period, but it still beat ABC’s The View.
Starting Over was also up 61% over what King World’s Martha Stewart
Living had been doing in the time period on that station last year.
The show came in first or second in only one market: Hearst-Argyle Television Inc.’s WCVB-TV
Boston, where it aired at 2:20 a.m., pushed back to an even later hour by
Monday Night Football.
