Good Day Live Starts Soft
By John Eggerton and Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/27/2003
Twentieth Television's new morning talk show Good Day Live didn't exactly set the world on fire with its national launch last week after rolling out slowly over the past several months.
The show opened on 140 stations covering 89% of the country to a 0.8 national Nielsen rating. "The first NTI [national rating] isn't a fair evaluation of the show's capabilities," said Twentieth President Bob Cook. "A better indication of what Good Day Live can do is the 2.0 rating that the original test markets are now enjoying as the show has grown from book to book."
Good Day Live fared better in the 52 metered markets, with a 1.3 rating/4 share, but it was still down 38% from its lead-in and off 24% from the year-ago average in the time period.
Telepictures'Caroline Rhea fared a bit better, with a 0.9. It's cleared mainly in late night in the big markets and is unlikely to be renewed.
The top rookie talker remains King World's Dr. Phil, up 7% to a 4.8. In second was NBC Enterprises'The John Walsh Show, down 19% to a 1.3.
Paramount rookie Life Moments plunged 36% to a new low of 0.7. The reason was a massive defection not of viewers but of stations: Eight of the NBC O&Os scrapped the show, dropping its national coverage from 92% to 74%.
Although the NBC replaced Life Moments with its own The Other Half, that show remained flat week to week at a 0.9 but was down 25% year-to-year. the show's fate rests on how it performs in February sweeps.
The top new reality strip, Telepictures' Celebrity Justice, remained at its season high of 1.4 for a second week. It is slated to return next season.
Buena Vista's rookie game show, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, was up 6% to a personal-best 3.3, while Sony's Pyramid, at a 2.0, was down 5% from its previous-week personal-best 2.1. Both game shows will be back next year.
Magazine shows remained strong, with three recording double-digit increases. Paramount's Entertainment Tonight was up 12% to a 5.8; King World's Inside Edition was second, up 3% to a 3.4. Warner Bros.' Extra, up 15% to a 3.0, tied for third with NBC's Access Hollywood, up 11% to a 3.0.
