MANILA, Philippines - It?s interesting to note that the 7 p.m. weekday cable programming slot has become a ?battleground? for three female-friendly talk shows??Tyra? on ETC channel, ?Ellen? on 2nd Avenue, and ?Martha? on Lifestyle Network. Hosted by Misses Banks, DeGeneres and Stewart, respectively, the three programs are all popular and full of entertainment and information. So beyond watching from three TV sets, what is a talk-show buff to do?

Happily, regular viewing of the programs reveals that each of them caters to a different female viewing demographic.

For instance, ?Tyra? is clearly aimed at young female viewers. When Ms Banks first started hosting the show, her superstar-model background gave it an haute couture and even fashion-weirdo coloration that obviously didn?t sit well with mainstream viewers. It was quickly replaced by an interest in edgy issues related to young American women, both black and white (as well as all the epidermal color permutations in between).

The show?s new focus has clicked big-time with female teen and young-adult viewers, hence the program?s currently healthy ratings. In fact, a few cheeky observers of the TV scene have even ?dared? to opine that ?Tyra? is now the newer and better (and of course, younger) ?Oprah.?

Perish the thought, because only Oprah can ever be Oprah. But the point the ?daring? observers want to make is that Tyra has found her TV niche, and has made it without having to become an Oprah clone or Mini Me.

Dancing host

For her part, Ellen DeGeneres has proven to be even more audacious, because her talk show has become successful despite?or because of?her being a self-declared, actualized lesbian. Now, we can?t say that there are enough gender-benders in the States to make the show the hit it has become, so there clearly are a lot of straights who approve of what DeGeneres is doing.

She literally dances her way into the viewers? hearts at the start of her program, then proceeds to spoof any number of puffed-up media personalities (including herself, from time to time), even as she touches the usual talk-show bases with her celebrity or human-interest guests.

But Ellen can also be blithely topical, as recently proven when Republican presidential bet John McCain guested on her program, and they talked about her impending marriage to Portia, her significant other. McCain frankly stated that he didn?t approve of same-sex marriages, but Ellen stuck to her guns just the same?whereupon the two ?debaters? decided to agree to disagree.

Ever the ?shamelessly? forthright one, DeGeneres had another surprise in store for First Lady Laura Bush when she recently guested with her newly-married daughter, Jenna, on ?Ellen.? They were talking about Jenna?s wedding at the Bushes? ranch and how beautifully it had turned out?and Ellen upped and asked Mrs. Bush?s permission to hold her and and Portia?s wedding ceremony there!

Creative audience

Finally, Martha Stewart?s show has a loyal audience made up of older women, homemakers, cooks, crafters, gardeners?and just about anybody who likes to be productive or creative with his or her hands.

Martha avoids usual glamour and chi-chi fashion topics and comes up with demonstrations so practical, we surmise that quite a lot of male crafters, carpenters and self-trained handymen also watch her program.

Yes, it can get to be too practical to be diverting, but we like ?Martha? because it presumes that its viewers are intelligent and self-actualized people.

Also, being the most mature female talk-magazine show host on TV, Stewart no longer has to prove anything to anybody, so her sense of security and confidence is reassuring to behold.