REGIS Philbin’s return to “Live with Regis & Kelly” spiked ratings for the show.

Phil-bin’s emotional return Thu-rsday, six weeks after undergoing heart-bypass surgery, earned “Live” the market’s highest viewership of the day – even higher than usual champ “Oprah.”

“Live” averaged 633,000 viewers on Ch. 7 (9-10 a.m.), compared to the 344,000 viewers who watched “Oprah” at 4 p.m. (also on Ch. 7), according to Nielsen.

Philbin’s main guest was David Letterman who, like Reege, has undergone heart-bypass surgery.

Letterman made a rare TV appearance outside of his own “Late Show.”

In other ratings news, ABC’s “Good Morning America” beat first-place “Today” on the national level by a razor-thin margin Thursday – 22,000 viewers.