Dr. Sabrina Segal

I always thought that savvy business woman Oprah Winfrey had the highest rated daytime talk show out there. To make sure I wasn’t crazy, I did a little research, and the ”Hollywood Reporter “ ranks the top 3 Nielson talk shows as: Oprah, Dr. Phil (before Britney-gate), and Regis in that order. So how does Ellen DeGeneres, a distant fourth with half the viewing audience of Oprah, win a poll on AOL naming her the most popular?

Nepotism.

Pollsters AOL are owned by Time Warner, ranked 48th wealthiest by Fortune 500 and also the conglomerate that owns Warner Brothers Entertainment, which produces Ellen’s show. Coincidence? NOT!!

When Ellen wins a poll with 46 percent of the vote, followed by Regis with 22 percent and Oprah with 19 percent – one has to question survey results. Now I understand that this is not a Gallup poll backed by sound methodology, and as a statistics professional, I shouldn’t take it to heart, but I cringe every time a media outlet uses its own power of media to blow smoke up its own *ss.

I had a pit in my stomach when I read the Reuters article on poll results, because I had a feeling there was an overall association between the pollster and the poll leader. Although Ellen’s show did win six Daytime Emmys this past year, including Outstanding Talk Show and Outstanding Talk Show Host, American Idol, the highest Nielson rated show three years running didn’t even win in 2007 for Best Reality Show, notwithstanding number of viewers.

Even though Oprah is the reigning Queen of the daytime Nielson scene, she doesn’t stand a chance against a global conglomerate like Time Warner when it comes to marketing? Oprah’s privately-held company, Harpo Productions may have the two hottest daytime talk shows in the industry, but in comparison, Harpo’s $325 million pales to Warner’s billions.

How do you feel about Ellen winning over Oprah in a poll run by Ellen’s “family” so to speak? Is this ethical or is all fair in love and marketing?

Photo Credit: Dr. Sabrina Segal