‘Oprah’ Tops Ratings For Second Straight Week

Oprah Winfrey’s November-sweeps celebrity push, which included appearances by the likes of Brad Pitt, paid off in the Nielsen department.

“The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which has been regularly topped by “The Jerry Springer Show,” was the top-rated syndicated daytime talker for the second straight week, according to Nielsen ratings for the week ending Nov. 15.

For the week, “Oprah” averaged a 7.7 rating (percentage of the nation’s 99.4 million TV homes), up 12 percent from the previous week. Runnerup “Springer” averaged a 7.1 rating, up 8 percent from the previous week. Ratings for “Oprah” and “Springer” represented new highs for each this season and came during the third week of the November sweeps, a quarterly ratings period used by local stations to set future advertising rates.