Producers stars boost Ellen ratings

The Ellen DeGeneres Show had its best week ever during the week ended December 18 thanks in part to an appearance by the cast of the feature film The Producers. The syndicated talk show averaged a series-high 2.7 household rating, up 4% from the previous week, according to Nielsen Media Research, in a week where PUT (people using television) levels were down by an average of more than 2 million viewers, causing many other syndicated shows to suffer week-to-week decreases.

Ellen's performance was spurred in part by the December 16 episode featuring Producers cast members Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Uma Thurman, and Will Ferrell. More than 5 million viewers tuned in, marking Ellen's biggest single-day audience in its 2-1/2 years on the air. Ellen also saw the biggest year-to-year increase of any talker, jumping 13%. (Kimberly Speight, Reuters)