Ellen_DegeneresBURBANK, Calif. (July 7, 2010) – After only four months in the marketplace following the announcement earlier this year that “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” had been renewed through 2014 on the owned-and-operated stations of the NBC Local Media Division, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD) has continued to lock up early fringe renewals throughout the country on ABC, CBS and NBC network-affiliated stations for the Emmy® Award–winning talk show from Telepictures Productions.

Ken Werner, President, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, made the following announcements today:

— WBDTD has cleared the series in over 99% of the country for the 2011–2012 season
— Sales to traditional affiliated stations (ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates), represent 95% of the country
— “Ellen” has been cleared in early fringe time periods for 2011–2012 in:
18 of the top 20 markets
45 of the top 50
88 of the top 100

WBDTD has already renewed “Ellen” in over 85% of the country for the 2012–2013 season and in over 77% of the U.S. for 2013–2014
In addition to previously renewing “Ellen” with the 10 stations of the NBC Local Media Division, WBDTD has sold the show to stations from the following groups: Hearst Television (on 13 of its stations), Gannett Broadcasting (on 12 of its stations), Scripps Television Station Group, Belo Corp., Local TV, Media General, Raycom Media, Cox Media, Gray Television, Freedom Communications and ComCorp, among many others.

The “Ellen” renewal campaign followed the publication of two separate, independently commissioned and conducted studies by leading industry market research firms SmithGeiger and Frank N. Magid Associates. Ken Werner added, “SmithGeiger and Magid released research to their clients that stated that ‘Ellen’ is the single-best choice for stations – in the minds of daytime television viewers – to be their early fringe anchor. As we met with our clients, it became clear that these TV stations had come to the same conclusion, selecting ‘Ellen’ to be their cornerstone program, securing their future for years to come.” In the show’s seventh season, “Ellen” ranked as the #2 talk program in all of syndication among the key talk demographic of Women 25–54, following only “Oprah.” The series’ Household rating is up +10%, its Women 25–54 up +14%, its Women 18–49 up +8% and its Women 18–34 +20%. (Source: Live + SD AA Ratings, Premiere–06/21/09 vs. Premiere–06/20/10) For the recent May 2010 sweep, “Ellen” also ranked as the #2 talk show in syndication among the key talk demo of Women 25–54, again only behind “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” outperforming its nearest competitor by +27% in rating. (Source: Nielsen WRAP Sweeps May 2010 All Market Weighted Average)

“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” recently won the 2010 Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Award for Outstanding Talk Show/Entertainment, the fifth time that the show has received this honor and the 31st Daytime Emmy in its history. “Ellen” also won the 2010 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Talk Show.