Syndication Ratings: 'Dr. Oz' Tops 'Dr. Phil' as March Madness Continues to Disrupt Syndies

In the wake of warm weather, March Madness and plenty of repeats,
most syndicated shows were down or flat in the week ended March 25 and several
shows fell to new season lows.

Sony's Dr.
Oz
 took over the
talk-show crown, climbing 8% to a 2.8 live-plus-same-day household ratings
average, according to Nielsen Media Research. Oz beat the
typical leader, CBS Television Distribution's Dr. Phil, which fell 4% to a new
season-low 2.5 after spending the week in repeats and facing frequent
preemptions due to coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament.

Disney-ABC's Live!
with Kelly
, also in repeats, fell to a new season low, declining 4%
to a 2.4. Warner Bros.' Ellen was
flat at a 2.3. NBCUniversal's Maury dropped 4% to a 2.2, but remained
the top talk show among young female demographics. CTD'sRachael Ray and The
Doctors
 each added 7%
to a 1.5. NBCU's Steve Wilkos was flat at a 1.2. Debmar-Mercury's Wendy
Williams
 added 10% to
a 1.1. Sony's Nate Berkus, which will end its run after
this season, declined to a new season low, dropping 10% to a 0.9.

Among the
newcomers, Warner Bros.' Anderson slipped 7% to a 1.3. Debmar-Mercury'sJeremy Kyle was
flat at a 0.6. Entertainment Studios' We the People advanced 25% -- or one-tenth of a
ratings point -- to a 0.5.  In
late-night, CTD's new dating show,Excused, held firm at a 0.7.

CTD's
entertainment magazine, The Insider, was syndication's only show
that could boast double-digit growth for the week, focusing much of its
coverage on OWN's cancellation of Rosie O'Donnell's primetime talk show only
five months into its two-year, multimillion dollar contract with OWN. The
Insider
grew
13% from the prior week to a 1.7 in households and 14% among women 18-49.

CTD's leader, Entertainment
Tonight
, was flat at a 3.7. CTD'sInside Edition, in second place, added 4%
to a 2.8 after falling to a new season low the prior week. Warner Bros.' TMZ dipped 5% to a 2.0. NBCU's Access
Hollywood
 eased 10%
to a 1.9 after being one of the few shows to gain in the previous week. Warner
Bros.' Extra, which faced many preemptions due
to basketball, held steady at a 1.6.

CTD's Wheel
of Fortune
 dipped
just 1% from the prior week to a 6.8 to lead all of syndication. CTD'sJeopardy!backtracked
2% to a 5.3. Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud tacked on 4% to a 2.9. Disney-ABCs Who
Wants to be a Millionaire
 was
flat at a 2.4.

CTD's Judge
Judy
improved
3% to a 6.5 in households, and 7% among women 25-54 to a 3.0 to be the top
court show for 810th week in a row, or every week for the past 15 years.

CTD's Judge
Joe Brown
 was flat at
a 2.6. Warner Bros.' People's Court softened 5% to a 1.9. Twentieth's Judge
Alex
 was steady at a
1.6. Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis stumbled 6% to a 1.5. Twentieth's Divorce Court was flat at a 1.4. CTD's Swift Justiceremained at its season-low 1.2.
Entertainment Studios' recently renewed America's Courtadded 11% to a 1.0.

Warner Bros.'
freshman Big Bang Theory continued to lead the off-net sitcoms, rebounding 2%
to a 6.7 after losing 11% in the prior week. Warner Bros.' veteran Two
and a Half Men
 remained
at a 5.8. Twentieth'sFamily Guy climbed 5% to a 4.0. Twentieth's How
I Met Your Mother
 dropped
3% to a 2.9. Sony's Seinfeldspiked 9% to a 2.5. CTD's Everybody
Loves Raymond
, Twentieth'sKing of the Hill, Warner Bros.' Friends and NBCU's The
Office
 all were
unchanged at a 2.3, 2.2, 2.1 and 1.6, respectively.

Among the rookie off-nets, following Big Bang,
NBCU's 30 Rock was steady at a 1.3 in mostly late night
slots. Twentieth's It's Always Sunny in
Philadelphia
 was
flat at a 1.2, while Sony's â€˜Til Death rebounded 20% to 0.6.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.