Healthier ratings. (Media).

The "Dr. Phil Show" is generating some healthy ratings for KNBC-TV.

After a long history of lagging behind competitor KABC-TV (Channel 7) on weekday afternoons, KNBC's ratings have been picking up since the station dropped its 4 p.m. newscast for Dr. Phil McGraw's hour-long talk show.

In its first week, the program averaged a 3.5 rating, compared to the 2.8 averaged by the 4 p.m. news during May sweeps. Meanwhile, the 5 p.m. news got a 4.0 rating during the week of Sept. 16-20, vs. a 3.8 in May.

Ron Crowe, KNBC's vice president of creative services, partially attributes the increase to rival KABC, which airs "The Oprah Winfrey Show" at 3 p.m. (Dr. Phil is a spin-off of Oprah.)

"We get the flow from Oprah," he said.

Staff reporter Claudia Peschiutta can be reached at [phone] ext. 229, or at [e-mail]