Regis Rates on His Last Day of 'Live!'

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Fans turned out in droves to watch Regis Philbin's final day on Disney-ABC's Live! with Regis and Kelly, the show he's hosted for nearly 30 years.

On Friday, Nov. 18, Philbin's last show on Live! averaged a 7.3 rating/23 share live plus same day household average in the 56 metered markets. That's a 133% improvement from the show's prior week, and a 166% improvement from November 2010, when the show averaged a 2.9/10. It's also a big jump over this year's November sweep, in which so far Live! is averaging a 3.7 among households.

Live!'s best market was Dayton, Ohio, where it turned in a 17.1/40. The show also did better than 10 ratings in Atlanta (10.6), Detroit (10.5), Charlotte (10.2), Milwaukee (10.8), Louisville (10.7), Buffalo (10.5), and New Orleans (10.2).

Now Kelly Ripa, who just signed a contract to remain with the show for five more years, will co-host Live! with Kelly with a merry go-round of co-hosts, kicking off this week with Jerry Seinfeld and Neil Patrick Harris.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.