COOL SPRING DAYS
By Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/9/2005
The reruns and weaker episodes that fill the syndicated landscape before the start of the May sweeps, combined with two days of preemptions for coverage of Pope Benedict XVI's election, resulted in lackluster ratings during the week ended April 24.
Nielsen national barter rankings show that, as usual, top off-net sitcoms airing in access time periods dominated first-run fare in adults 18-49.
Seinfeld led all weekday strips with a 3.7 rating in the key demo, compared with a 3.6 for Everybody Loves Raymond and a 3.3 for Friends. The weekend version of Seinfeld led all syndicated shows in adults 18-49, earning a 3.9.
Top-rated Wheel of Fortune, hitting a new season-low 8.1 household rating, nonetheless led all first-run access strips in adults 18-49. It earned a 2.0 rating in the demo, versus a 1.9 for Entertainment Tonight, 1.7 for Jeopardy! (which matched its season low with a 6.9 household rating), 1.1 for Access Hollywood and 1.0 for Extra.
In the household rankings, most magazines declined slightly for the week. Ironically, as testimony heated up in the Michael Jackson trial, ratings for Celebrity Justice dropped by the largest margin of any national magazine. It gave up 10% of its audience from the previous week, finishing down 31% year-to-year at a 0.9.
Daytime shows turned in a mixed week, with the top talkers The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil and Maury all increasing from the previous week. Maury, however, dropped a bit year-to-year. The Montel Williams Show (2.2) outpaced The Ellen DeGeneres Show (1.7).
