Syndication Ratings: 'Deal or No Deal' Hits Another Series High
Every other first-run rookie was flat for the week
By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/4/2008 10:30:00 AM
NBC Universal’s new game show, Deal or No Deal, continued climbing the rookie charts, jumping 6% to a 1.9 live plus same day household rating in the week ending Oct. 26, according to Nielsen Media Research. That’s the second week in a row the show has hit a new series high, and the arrival of daylight savings and the November sweeps should see the show growth further.
Every other first-run rookie was flat for the week.
Debmar-Mercury’s rival rookie game show, Trivial Pursuit: America Plays, remained at a 0.6.
CTD’s The Doctors remained the top rookie talker at a 1.5, while Warner Bros.’ Bonnie Hunt stayed at a 0.8.
Sony’s Judge Karen remained the top rookie court show at a 1.0, while Program Partners’ Family Court with Judge Penny continued to trail at a 0.6.
Meanwhile, both the rookie off-net strips declined for the week. Litton's off-cable Storm Stories dropped 8% to a 1.2 and Debmar-Mercury's off-TBS House of Payne fell 5% to a 2.0.
The off-net weekly rookies also mostly lost ground for the week, although CBS Television Distribution’s CSI: New York continued to lead both the off-net rookie and veteran weeklies, climbing 3% to a 3.3. Among the rest of the weekly rookies, NBC Universal’s House dropped 12% to a 2.2. Twentieth’s Boston Legal declined 5% to a 1.8. Monk fell 11% to a 1.7. Disney-ABC’s Desperate Housewives dipped 7% to a 1.4 and Disney-ABC’s Lost decreased 9% to a 1.0.
The magazine shows were the standouts among the veteran syndies. All six magazines improved on the week, following stories on Madonna’s divorce from British director Guy Ritchie and on Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s appearance during the week on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. The magazines managed to improve even though shows were preempted in some markets by Games One and Two of this year’s World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays.
The top magazine, CTD’s Entertainment Tonight, hit its best ratings in 25 weeks, inching up 5% to a 4.3. In second place, CTD’s Inside Edition gained 4% to a 2.9. CTD’s The Insider and Warner Bros.’ TMZ, in lockstep, each jumped 6% to a 1.9. NBC Universal’s Access Hollywood and Warner Bros.’ Extra each also gained 6% to a 1.8 and a 1.7, respectively.
Like the magazines, the other two genres that air mostly in access had strong weeks as well.
The top two game shows, CTD’s Wheel of Fortune and CTD’s Jeopardy!, each climbed 9% to new season highs of 7.5 and 6.1, respectively. Disney-ABC’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud were flat at a 2.5 and 1.4, respectively.
The off-net sitcoms were mostly higher. Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men was up 4% to a season-high 5.2. Twentieth’s Family Guy jumped 12% to a 3.8. Sony’s Seinfeld rose 6% to a 3.5. CTD’s Everybody Loves Raymond gained 10% to a season-high 3.2. Bucking the trend, Warner Bros.’ George Lopez dropped 6% to a 3.0.
In daytime, Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres was the only talk show to improve this year over last, jumping 5% to a 2.2, while every other talk show was down by double-digits year to year. Ellen also improved 5% for the week, coming the closest it ever has to Disney-ABC’s Live with Regis and Kelly, which was flat at a 2.5 for third place.
The top talker, CTD’s Oprah, improved 4% to a 4.9. CTD’s Dr. Phil, in second place, gained 6% to a 3.4.
In fifth place, CTD’s Rachael Ray also grew 6% to a 1.7, tying NBC U’s Maury, which was flat.
NBC U’s Jerry Springer climbed 11% to a 1.0. Warner Bros.’ Tyra Banks fell 10% to a 0.9, tying NBC Universal’s Steve Wilkos, which was flat. Twentieth’s Morning Show with Mike and Juliet and NBC U’s Martha Stewart, were both unchanged at a 0.8 and 0.7, respectively.
Among the court shows, CTD’s Judge Judy at a 4.4, CTD’s Judge Joe Brown at a 2.3 and Warner Bros.’ People’s Court at a 2.1 all grew 5% from the prior week. The rest of the pack was flat or down, with Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis, Twentieth’s Judge Alex, Twentieth’s Cristina’s Court, Sony’s Judge David Young and Radar Entertainment’s Jury Duty all were unchanged at a 1.8, 1.6, 1.1, 0.8 and 0.2, respectively. Twentieth’s Divorce Court eased 7% to a 1.4.
