The series premiere of the new syndicated talk show “Katie” was a very solid one ratings-wise. According to Nielsen metered market ratings, Katie Couric‘s talk show debuted to a 2.8 household rating/8 share. That would make it the strongest new daytime talk show launch since 2002, when “Dr. Phil” also launched to a 2.8/8.

Compared to the other talk show competition: “Steve Harvey” debuted last week to a 1.5 rating/4 share, “Jeff Probst“ debuted yesterday to a 1 rating/3 share, “Ricki Lake“ debuted yesterday to a 0.8 rating/2 share (worth noting that Lake was affected by a retransmission dispute in the New York market, which likely affected ratings somewhat) and the second season of Anderson Cooper‘s talk show debuted to a 1.3 rating/4 share.

• Related: A review of “Katie”

“Katie” even manged to improve on its “General Hospital” lead-in by +12%.

The final ratings will likely be slightly different, but don’t expect any drastic changes in the numbers. The more important numbers for Disney and Couric — the weekly ratings — will be available next week.