Reege Beats Matt, Katie

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/16/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

ABC's syndicated "Live with Regis Philbin" appears to be doing just fine opposite the assault of the third hour of NBC's "Today" show, which has ruled the TV airwaves least in the morning hours between 7 and 9 for the past six years, reports The New York Times. Last week, in which the expanded hour with Katie Couric and Matt Lauer debuted, "Live" beat "Today" in the ratings by 37% in the 36 cities where they now face each other from 9 to 10 a.m., says The Times. "We're like a runaway beer truck, running downhill," Philbin told the paper. NBC contends that the "Today" third hour is still drawing more viewers than the show it replaced, "Later Today," but The Times wonders, with ratings like this, if Reege will ever bother to find a new cohost. He lost Kathie Lee Gifford in July . . . and his ratings soared by 26%.