Maury Povich, New King of Daytime, Predicts who will Follow in Oprah’s Footsteps

Maury Povich knows a lot about hosting a successful syndicated daytime talk show, and after 13 seasons is finally at the top of the rankings and tied for No. 1 based on number of households. Now Maury is saying who he thinks has the best shot of all the new talkers to have an Oprah-sized influence. Anderson Cooper, Rosie O’Donnell, Katie Couric or Jeff Probst?

“In terms of Oprah’s audience, I think Katie probably has the best chance to capture it because she’s proved she has a very good following amongst women and is a good story teller,” Maury says. “She has the best chance to deliver a show that will appeal to Oprah’s audience.”

According to Maury, “You have to be able to show a personality that people not only open the door but invite you to sit down on their couch. That’s what a talk show host has to do.”

As for his own show, Maury, now 72-years-old, doesn’t like to toot his own horn but is still thrilled that he’s atop the ratings after all these years. Ever humble, he gives credit to his hard-working staff.

“I’m more excited for the staff. We have worked very long and very hard,” Maury says. “We have been No. 1 in certain demos for years now … now we finally are No. 1 with total viewers.”

Creating his remarkable success on themes that attract young viewers, Maury is proud that his show invented televised paternity tests over 12 years ago.

“Others have tried since and not been successful because we are talking about human behavior and tragedy and we have honesty we bring to it,” the hands-on boss says. “I think very long and hard about each of our guests and stories we do. I go back to the basic fundamentals of talk — storytelling, we tell stories with big endings.”

Maury admits that even he doesn’t know the results before he opens the envelope at the end of his show and has no concerns that his show can sometimes go too far.

“We have had women on the show looking at, sometimes, 14 different guys trying to find the father,” Maury explains. “I give her all the credit trying to find a father to be in her baby’s life. She’s looking for the father of her child. I have to give her points for that.”

But what about the critics?

“I don’t care about critics,” he says. “This is part of the American fabric and I would only hope the politicians that are thumbing their nose at this issue get involved and take care of these young people who are out of control and too promiscuous.”