'Oprah' ratings slip, yet still rules talk shows

The final season of Oprah Winfrey's syndicated talk show launched to softer numbers last week, though Queen of Talk continued to earn her title against rivals.

For the week ending Sept. 19, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" drew 7.2 million viewers and a 5.3 household rating -- down 13% from last year.

That's not record low for Winfrey, it's still higher than her premiere week in 2008, which was a series low.

Winfrey continued to top all talk-show competitors, while "Wheel of Fortune" was once again the leader overall.

CBS points out that Winfrey's premiere week last year was higher because it contained three of the show's top-rated episodes from all of last season. (In other words, premiere week was too successful last year to warrant a fair comparison -- ha, snort). 

Here's how syndie stacked up:

Program HH AA% Distributor

1. Wheel of Fortune 5.9 CBS Television Distribution
2. Oprah Winfrey Show 5.3 CBS Television Distribution
3. Two and a Half Men 5.2 Warner Bros.
4. Jeopardy! 5.1 CBS Television Distribution
5. Judge Judy 4.3 CBS Television Distribution
6. Family Guy – weekend 4.0 Twentieth
7. Entertainment Tonight 3.6 CBS Television Distribution
8. Criminal Minds 2.8 CBS Television Distribution
t. Family Guy 2.8 Twentieth
10. Inside Edition 2.7 CBS Television Distribution
t. Everybody Loves Raymond 2.7 CBS Television Distribution
t. Two and a Half Men – weekend 2.7 Warner Bros.