Syndication Ratings: Woods Keeps Magazines Swinging

‘ET' reaches 700th straight week at no. 1

By David Tanklefsky -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/22/2009 1:31:18 PM

Coverage of Tiger Woods continued to stoke ratings for the red-hot syndicated magazines in the week ending Dec. 13, with six out of six shows driving higher and all of them matching or exceeding previous record numbers on their scorecards.

CBS Television Distribution's (CTD) Entertainment Tonight had no trouble taking the no.1 magazine title for the 700th consecutive week, growing 9% week-to-week and 12% year-to-year while scoring a new season-high 4.8.  The last time ET lost a week was more than 13 years ago in July 1996.  CTD's Inside Edition, after a decline in the previous session, rebounded 13% to a new season-high 3.6 and was up 20% from last year at this time.  NBC Universal's Access Hollywood was up 9% from the week before and 20% from last year to a new season-high 2.4.  Warner Bros.' TMZ advanced 5% for the week and the year to a new season-high 2.2.  Warner Bros.' Extra jumped 17% week-to-week and 24% year-to-year to a new season-high 2.1.  CTD's The Insider gained 6% to 1.9, matching its previous season-high and remaining on par with last year while its Insider Weekend surged 30%, the biggest increase of any first-run weekly, to a 1.3.

Talk shows were mixed.  Warner Bros.' Ellen Degeneres, in its seventh season, jumped 17% to an all-time best 2.8.  CTD's Oprah and Dr. Phil slipped.  Winfrey sank 9% to 4.2 and Phil dipped 3% to 2.9.  Disney/ABC's Live With Regis and Kelly was up 7% to a new season-high 2.9 without Regis, who was recovering from a hip replacement.  CTD's The Doctors held steady at 2.0.  CTD's Rachael Ray rose 12% in households to 1.9, equaling its previous season high and saw a 40% surge in young women 18-34.  NBCU's Maury climbed 6% to 1.9.  NBCU's Jerry Springer and Steve Wilkos were flat at 1.3 and 1.2 respectively.  Warner Bros.' Bonnie Hunt was up 13% to 0.9.  NBCU's Martha Stewart remained at its season-high 0.7.

CTD's Judge Judy improved 2% both week-to-week and year-to-year to 4.7.  Judy was the no. 1 first-run show in daytime for the third straight week, topping Oprah by 12%.  CTD's Judge Joe Brown was unchanged at 2.2.  Warner Bros.' People's Court fell 5% to 2.0.  Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis was flat at 1.6.  Twentieth's Judge Alex leaped 14% to a new season-high 1.6.  Twentieth's Divorce Court was flat at 1.4.  Warner Bros.' Judge Jeannine Pirro continued to trail with an unchanged 1.0.

Among rookies in first-run, Sony's Dr. Oz recovered from the previous week's ratings misstep and inched ahead 4% to 2.7.  Twentieth's Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader remained at a 1.6, although Debmar-Mercury's Wendy Williams closed the gap with an 18% improvement to 1.3.  At the back of the pack, Litton's  Street Court was flat at 0.6.

NBCU's The Office was the top newcomer overall, holding steady at its 3.1 season high for a second week.  Fellow off-net sitcom, Twentieth's My Name is Earl was unchanged at 1.9.  CTD's Everybody Hates Chris saw a 10% decline to 1.8.

Game shows were active with CTD's Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! each tacking on 3% to 7.5 and 6.3 respectively.  Disney/ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire had the biggest week in the category with a new season-high 2.7, which was up13%.  Family Feud grew 8% to a new season-high 1.4.  NBCU's Deal Or No Deal banked an 8% gain to 1.3.

Off-net sitcoms were led by Warner Bros.' Two and Half Men which slipped 2% to 5.1.  Twentieth's Family Guy faded 3% to 3.4.  Sony's Seinfeld was up 4% to 2.8.  Warner Bros.' George Lopez lost 7% to 2.6.  CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond was flat at 2.4.  Warner Bros.' Friends picked up 5% to 2.3, tying Twentieth's King of the Hill, which rose 10%.  House of Payne was down 5% to 1.9.