For the first time since 1992 King World’s “The Oprah Winfrey Show” was the top-rated show in syndication, leading the way for a slew of daytime strips that also saw strong growth during the third full week of May sweeps.

For the week ended May 22, “Oprah” scored an 8.1 national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. The top-rated talker edged out both King World’s “Wheel of Fortune” (7.9), which was down 2 percent for the week and 6 percent from the same week last year, and sister program “Jeopardy!” which was flat for the week with a 7.1, an 8 percent increase year to year.

“Dr. Phil” was the second-highest-rated talk strip, growing 4 percent for the week and 5 percent for the year to a 5.9. Buena Vista’s “Live With Regis and Kelly,” which saw its best performance for the week on Wednesday, May 18, with a visit from “Desperate Housewives'” Teri Hatcher, was up 6 percent for the week and 3 percent for the year to a 3.6.

The biggest year-to-year gain for any talk strip was Warner Bros.’ “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which grew 10 percent over its performance for the same week last year and was up 5 percent over the previous week to a 2.2.

Courtroom strips also had a good week, with genre leader “Judge Judy” from Paramount even from last year and growing 6 percent for the week to a 5.0. Paramount’s “Judge Joe Brown” was also even for the year but up 3 percent for the week to a 3.4. Twentieth’s “Divorce Court” grew 4 percent for the week and 17 percent for the year to a 2.8, while Warner Bros.’ “Judge Mathis” was up 4 percent for the year and 9 percent for the week to a 2.5. Sony’s “Judge Hatchett” was down 10 percent for the year but up 6 percent for the week to a 1.8.

Newsmagazine strips did not fare as well, with only one show, Paramount’s rookie “The Insider,” showing growth for the week, up 4 percent to a 2.7. Genre leader “Entertainment Tonight” was down 2 percent for the week and flat with last year with a 5.0, while King World’s “Inside Edition” was flat for the week and down 6 percent from last year with a 3.3. NBC Universal’s “Access Hollywood” was flat for the week and down 4 percent from last year with a 2.5, while Warner Bros.’ “Extra” was flat for the week and down 12 percent from last year with a 2.2.

Among off-network strips, King World’s “Everybody Loves Raymond” was flat for the week with a 6.6, but up 22 percent from last year’s weekly performance. Sony’s “Seinfeld” grew 7 percent for the week and 3 percent for the year to a 6.0. Warner Bros.’ “Friends” lost 4 percent from last week and 6 percent from last year to land at a 5.1.

The top weekly off-network hour remained King World rookie “CSI,” which declined 13 percent for the week to a 4.7. The top first-run weekly hour was the weekend edition of “ET,” which was up 10 percent for the week and down 3 percent for the year to a 3.4.