Syndie Insider

Marti Rider and Boyd McDonnell were promoted at Sony Pictures Television. Rider becomes vice president of the southeast region, responsible for selling first-run and off-net syndicated shows. Rider has been with Sony for 10 years, most recently as director of sales for the western region. She will be relocating to Atlanta from Los Angeles. McDonnell takes Rider's job. Previously, he was account executive for the southeast region based in Atlanta. In other Sony news, Executive Vice President John Weiser has joined the board of the Television Bureau of Advertising. TVB's board is comprised of 30 television executives, with Liberty's President and CEO Jim Keelor serving as chairman.

Universal Domestic Television's The Jerry Springer Show is getting a second run on The WB affiliate WPIX(TV) New York. Jerry will replace Warner Bros.' Jenny Jones at 9 a.m., starting Aug. 11. Jenny Jones was canceled this year after twelve years on the air. Jerry's primary run on the station will continue at 11 a.m. Universal's Maury also will be double-run on WPIX at 10 a.m. and noon, comprising a four-hour block of Universal talk shows on the station.

Paramount's Entertainment Tonight, which featured extensive coverage of the Kobe Bryant case, including analysis from former O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark, had the biggest ratings increase of any major strip in syndication for the week ending July 27. ET led all syndicated magazines, jumping 16% to 5.0, the show's highest rating in seven weeks. Viewers interested in the Bryant case also tuned into Warner Bros.' Celebrity Justice, which last week shot up to a season high 1.5 in mostly late-night slots and remained there for a second straight week. Syndication's other magazines were little changed on the week. King World's Inside Edition and Warner Bros.' Extra were flat at 3.0 and 2.3, respectively, while NBC Enterprises' Access Hollywood was up 5% to 2.2. Elsewhere, several of the closely watched rookie strips were struggling. NBC Enterprises' The John Walsh Show lost 14% to 1.2. Twentieth's Good Day Live slipped 9% to 1.0, and the syndicator's Ex-Treme Dating fell 10% to 0.9.