King World's 'Rachael Ray' Show Has Highest-rated Syndicated Debut Since 'Dr. Phil' in 2002

Show Blows Away the Competition With a 2.8/9 Weighted Metered Market Average

NEW YORK, Sept. 19 -- "Rachael Ray," the new daily, daytime show, debuted yesterday with the highest ratings for any first-run syndicated talk show since the launch of "Dr. Phil" in 2002.

The show, hosted by Rachael Ray, opened yesterday with a 2.8/9 weighted metered market average, which was up 17% from its average lead-in (2.4/8). "Rachael Ray" was also up 33% from its year ago time period average (2.1/7).

"It was a wonderful start for Rachael and our show and we couldn't be happier with the ratings," remarked King World Productions CEO Roger King. "We look forward to a whole season of exciting shows, guests and ratings."

Said Terry Wood, President of Creative Affairs and Development for King World, "We are thrilled that viewers across the country tuned-in to check out Rachael's new show and we are all very proud of Rachael, Executive Producer Janet Annino and our top notch production team for bringing us such a quality program."

The daytime strip won its time period in New York with a 3.9/16 (10:00 AM on WABC) and had its best top 10 market performance in Philadelphia with a 5.2/20 (10:00 AM WPVI). Overall, the show finished first or second in 28 of its 55 metered markets. "Rachael Ray" easily beat the three other talk shows to debut this fall. She beat the premiere episode rating of "Megan Mullally" by 133% (1.2/4); "Dr. Keith Ablow" by 211% (0.9); and "Greg Behrendt" by 250% (0.8).

"Rachael Ray" airs on 180 stations nationwide, representing 97% of the United States.

"Rachael Ray" is based in New York City and is produced by King World, in association with Harpo Productions, Inc., Scripps Networks, Inc. and Watch Entertainment, Inc., and distributed by King World.

King World Productions, Inc. is the preeminent company in television syndication, distributing the top four and six of the top 10 syndicated series, including the two highest-rated talk shows and two highest-rated game shows. In addition to Rachael Ray, among King World's stable of quality, critically-acclaimed programming are Wheel of Fortune, America's favorite game show, which has ranked #1 among all syndicated strips since its debut 23 years ago; Jeopardy!, America's favorite quiz show, which has ranked #2 among all syndicated strips for 21 of the past 22 seasons; The Oprah Winfrey Show, which has been the #1-rated talk series for 19 of the last 20 seasons and Dr. Phil, which has ranked as the #2-rated talk series since its debut in Fall 2002. Additionally, for the past 18 seasons, King World has produced and distributed Inside Edition, the longest-running and highest-rated newsmagazine in syndication. In addition, King World syndicates the CBS network primetime hits, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami and CSI: NY, family favorite Everybody Loves Raymond and the reality series, Survivor, The Amazing Race and America's Next Top Model. The King World slate also includes Bob Vila and Mr. Food.

SOURCE King World Productions, Inc.