TV Ratings: 'Dr Phil' Hits 150 Weeks as Top-Rated Talk Show

Dr. Phil reached a milestone — 150 consecutive weeks as the No 1 talk show — and star Dr. Phil McGraw did it the hard way, airing nothing but reruns for the past eight weeks. Still, the hugely popular talker has averaged a most current 4 million daily viewers so far this season, reports TV Newscheck.

In the session ending July 21, Phil led the 14-program field with a genre-dominating 2.2 live-plus-same-day rating, according to Nielsen, which held steady with the prior frame.

Live with Kelly and Ryan stood its ground at a 1.9 and was the second-highest talker for the 21st week in a row.

Further back, repeats of Ellen DeGeneres dwindled 7% to a 1.4; Maury managed a 1.2 for the seventh straight week; and Wendy Williams, with four originals and one repeat, was unchanged at a 1.2, tying Maury.

Judge Judy held its own at a chart-topping 6.3 for the second week in a row and led all of syndication in the household ratings, attracting more than 8.6 million daily viewers despite being partially in reruns.

Elsewhere, game shows were mixed. Category champ for the sixth consecutive week Family Feud forged ahead 2% to a 6.0, while Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune both weakened 2% to a 5.5 and a 5.1, respectively.

Magazines were mostly stable week to week, however year-to-year Access showed the most improvement, climbing 10% to a 1.1 and tying TMZ. Inside Edition led the group with an unchanged 2.6.

The week’s top-rated daytime talk shows in the women 25-54 demo were:

1. Dr. Phil (0.9, +13% from the week before)
2. Live with Kelly and Ryan (0.8, unchanged)
3. Maury (0.7, unchanged)
4. Ellen DeGeneres (0.6, unchanged), tied with Steve Wilkos (0.6, +20%) and Wendy Williams (0.6, unchanged)