Steve Harvey scores big rating

Steve Harvey hit a home run. It is early still, but his decision to enter syndication before his new competitors may have paid off.

Harvey's new show, the creatively titled Steve Harvey, debuted six days before Katie Couric, Jeff Probst and Ricki Lake enter the fray. And his new series debuted to solid ratings according to Metered Market returns (says the Hollywood Reporter).

In fact, the series posted stronger Metered Market numbers than any syndicated show's debut since Dr. Oz dropped in 2009.

From the Hollywood Reporter article:

"The first episode  received a 1.5 household rating and 4 share in 48 markets, a 50 percent jump in the time period average. It's also a 25 percent gain from its lead-in.

Among the especially sought after female demographics in his time period, Harvey was up 133 percent, year over year, with women 18-34, 100 percent with 18-49-ers and 80 percent among 25-54-year-olds."

As a comparison,  Judge Judy is the top performer with an average 7.0 HH rating. Dr. Phil won among talk show hosts with a 2.9 rating.

So these numbers are solid, but not ground-breaking. But new shows generally take time to find their feet. If he can maintain these numbers, he'll be on to something.