ROCHESTER, NY  --  Ellen DeGeneres has vaulted to the top spot in The Harris Poll's annual favorite television star list becoming the first openly LGBT TV celebrity to top the 15-Year national poll.

After five years as number one, Oprah Winfrey drops to second place this year. Jay Leno is third, a rise for him from last year when he was number six. Hugh Laurie remains as number four in his second year on the list, and Jon Stewart drops from number two to number five.

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,171 U.S. adults surveyed online between December 4 and 12, 2007 by Harris Interactive®.

Rounding out the top ten, two late night talk show hosts are tied for number six – David Letterman and Stephen Colbert with Bill O'Reilly at number eight. Tied for number nine are two comedians – one real, Ray Romano, and one a cartoon figure, Homer Simpson. 

While there are two new additions to the list this year, Stephen Colbert and Homer Simpson, two others have dropped off -- Kiefer Sutherland of 24, and Conan O'Brien.

A Breakdown of Your American Idol's
When the ten stars on this list are looked at more closely, a theme emerges. Seven of them have a talk show – either late night (Leno, Stewart, Letterman and Colbert), prime time (O'Reilly) or daytime (DeGeneres and Winfrey). Just two are from sitcoms, with Homer Simpson probably getting a boost from the summer release of The Simpsons Movie, and the other, Ray Romano, from a show that has been canceled for a few years now. Only one drama star, House's Hugh Laurie is on the list.

Different Strokes for Different Groups
Different groups do have different favorites. Men, for example, cite Jay Leno as their favorite television star while women say it's Ellen DeGeneres. Even among women there is a difference of opinion as single women say Ellen is their favorite while married women pick Oprah. Among age groups there is also a difference. Among Echo Boomers (those aged 18-30) Stephen Colbert is number one and for Generation Xers (those aged 31-42) it's a tie between Jay Leno and Jon Stewart. Oprah Winfrey is tops among Baby Boomers (those aged 43-61) and she's tied with Bill O'Reilly for the top spot among Matures (those aged 62 and older).

And, in this election year, there are also partisan and ideological differences not just for candidates, but also for favorite television star. Republicans say Bill O'Reilly is their favorite while Democrats cite Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey. Don't look for the Independents as the tie breaker on this one - they say Jay Leno is tops. While one might assume that Bill O'Reilly would also be number one among Conservatives, that's not the case – Jay Leno actually is. Liberals cite Ellen DeGeneres and Jon Stewart as their favorite while Oprah Winfrey is number one among Moderates.

Last update: 01-14-2008 15:21