Ellen Degeneres beats out Fallon, Colbert as America’s favorite talk show host

By Keith Nelson Jr. Published January 22, 2016

For all the bickering over politics we engage in, Americans seem to agree on at least one thing: We love Ellen Degeneres. For the fourth year in a row, the comedian come talk-show host earned the highest ranking on The Harris Poll’s survey of America’s favorite talk-show personalities.

Degeneres, host of The Ellen Degeneres Show, came in second to NCIS leading man, Mark Harmon, as American’s favorite TV personality, but edged out all of her talk-show contemporaries. Rounding out the top five in the talk-show host segment are Jimmy Fallon, Steve Harvey, Stephen Colbert, and Jon Stewart. Degeneres has taken the top spot as America’s overall favorite T.V. personality every year since 2011 — until Harmon dethroned her this year.

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The Harris Poll, a survey that has been measuring public opinion in the U.S. for over 50 years, questioned 2,252 U.S. adults online between December 9 and 14, 2015. Participants were not asked specifically for their favorite talk show hosts, but instead simply their favorite TV personality. Degeneres was the first choice for women, millennials, midwesterners, liberals, moderates, those with children in the household, and adults living in rural and suburban areas.

With America’s love comes a lot of success. The Ellen Degeneres Show premiered on September 8 2003, and as of January 20, 2016, has been renewed until 2020. The show has won 38 Daytime Emmy’s, including three Outstanding Talk Show Entertainment awards in 2010, 2011, and 2013. Degeneres has won the People’s Choice award for Favorite Daytime TV Host every year since 2012.

While the Ellen era continues to power on, Jimmy Fallon is beginning to nip at Degeneres’ well-dressed heels. Having never made top 10 list of America’s favorite T.V. personalities before, Fallon repeated as America’s third most favorite T.V. personality this year. When the Saturday Night Live alum debuted on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2014, he made his first appearance on the Harris Poll list at number 3.

With Fallon beginning to distance himself from his competitors in the late night talk show race, Degeneres may need a few more dance moves to stay ahead of NBC’s rising star. Check out the full results of the Harris Poll here.

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Keith Nelson Jr.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Keith Nelson Jr is a music/tech journalist making big pictures by connecting dots. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY he…

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