Ricki Lake

The syndicator says low ratings mean the freshman talk show won’t be back for another season after finishing out this one.

Less than a month into the new season, Couric’s middling ratings and topics have affiliates grumbling, Lake has a new executive producer, and a CBS exec’s ouster is partly due to Probst’s disappointing start.

Newly minted talk show hosts Steve Harvey, Katie Couric, Jeff Probst and Ricki Lake have now had a month (give or take) to prove themselves in the daytime arena. So how have they fared?

Anton Goss, a Los Angeles-based set designer, has carved out a niche designing sets for single-named daytime talk-show hosts, including Oprah, Tyra, Ellen and now Ricki. He discusses the curious world of daytime talk-show design, working with Oprah Winfrey and why it’s all about the couch.

Two is company and three’s a crowd on any TV show schedule but September will see the launch of four new daytime talk shows — all on the same day — forcing producers to start early with innovative ways of finding and engaging audiences.

Syndication buyers and sellers are projecting ratings and costs for the new syndicated talk shows prior to this summer’s upfront ad market. They say Disney-ABC’s Katie is likely to command a CPM of $25-$28 in its core demographic, women 25-54. Jeff Probst, with the host of Survivor, is expected to be next at about $25, followed by Steve Harvey and Ricki Lake’s new venture at $18-$20.

Oprah is long gone — she taped her last show for broadcast syndication eight months ago — but her presence (or absence) is still being felt throughout broadcasting and will pervade the NATPE conference next week in Miami Beach. She’ll continue to be the measure by which every other talk show evaluates itself and the subject of countless conversations about her impact on broadcasting.

The 43-year-old says her goal for her new Twentieth talk show that launches this fall is “conversation that everyone is a part of. It will be elevated content that women 25-54 can relate to. At my age, the TV I watch has to have some substance. That’s what we’re hoping to achieve. It will offer a lot of takeaway.”

Syndicators and stations got some answers to the many questions hanging over them for next season lineups. CBS Television Distribution’s Jeff Probst (left) was picked up by the NBC Owned Television Stations. Twentieth Television’s Ricki with Ricki Lake was grabbed by Tribune Broadcasting in New York and seven other markets while Warner Bros.’s Anderson with Anderson Cooper secured key second-season renewals. Still looking for a home is Warner Bros.’s Bethenny Frankel.

Among the stations that will air the new talk show beginning next fall is WPIX New York.

The Peacock stations may pick up one more hour of daytime in 2012, and the contest pits existing (but ailing) shows against risky new upstarts.

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Among the new crop of hosts hoping to fill the gap left by Oprah’s absence from the syndicated talk show ranks is one returning genre veteran. Twentieth Television and Ricki Lake hope the magic is there again as they take a different approach from her earlier show that ended an 11-year run in 2004. This time, Lake will will tackle personal issues — usually a few per show — of interest and importance to the target audience of women, 25-54.

The syndicator is targeting a fall 2012 launch for the new talkshow.

Twentieth, CBS and NBC are all considering shopping a new Lake talker. Twentieth has even gone so far as to host at least one meeting between Lake and a potential broadcast client.