Syndication Ratings: 'Judge Judy' Dominates Daytime

CBS Television
Distribution's Oprah may be the queen of talk but CTD's Judge
Judy
is the queen of daytime, having beaten Oprah in the ratings 24
out of 30 weeks in 2010, and 18 out of the last 20.

In fact,
Oprah has only beaten Judy in household ratings five weeks out of
the last 30, with the two shows tying once. In the week ending Aug. 1, Oprah
averaged a 3.1 live plus same day household rating, according to Nielsen Media
Research, up 3% from the previous week but down 14% from last summer. Judy,
meanwhile, hit a 4.2, down 2% for the week but up 11% from last year. Judy also
drew more viewers than Oprah, with approximately six million tuning in to
daytime's top court show while 4.2 million watched repeats of Oprah.

On the
other hand, Oprah attracts a much younger audience. Season-to-date, Oprah
beats Judy among all key female demographics. Among women 25-54,
Oprah
scores a 3.0 rating to Judy's 2.3. Among women 18-49, Oprah
rates a 2.4 to Judy's 1.8. And among young women 18-34, Oprah
still prevails with a 1.8 to Judy's 1.2.

In the
rest of the talk field, Disney-ABC's Live with Regis and Kelly
climbed 4% to a 2.4, while NBC Universal's Maury, continuing its
strong summer showing, took third place away from CTD's Dr. Phil
with a 2.1. Maury is performing 17% better this July compared to last,
while Maury's partners in daytime - NBCU's Jerry
Springer
and Steve Wilkos - are up 25% and 18% this week
compared to last year at this time.

Phil and Sony's Dr. Oz,
both Oprah spin-offs, tied for fourth at a 2.0, with Phil down 5%
and Oz flat. Following that were Warner Bros.' Ellen,
CTD's The Doctors, Springer, Debmar-Mercury's Wendy
Williams
, Warner Bros.' Bonnie Hunt and NBCU's Martha
Stewart
, all of which were flat at a 1.6, 1.5, 1.5, 1.1, 0.6 and 0.5,
respectively. CTD's Rachael Ray and Wilkos each fell 7% to
tie at a 1.3.

Judy remained the court leader by a
mile, while CTD's Judge Joe Brown, in second place, eased 5% to a
2.0. Warner Bros.' People's Court was flat at a 1.9. Warner
Bros.' Judge Mathis declined 6% to a 1.6. Twentieth's Judge
Alex
fell 7% to a 1.3. Twentieth's Divorce Court decreased 8%
to a 1.2. Warner Bros.' Judge Jeannine Pirro lost 9% to a 1.0.
Litton's Street Court was unchanged at a 0.6.

Among
the magazines, CTD's leader, Entertainment Tonight, dropped 3% to
a 3.5. CTD's Inside Edition fell 4% to a 2.6. Warner Bros.' TMZ
and NBCU's Access Hollywood each were flat at a 1.8 and 1.7,
respectively. CTD's The Insider and Warner Bros.' Extra
each were off 6% to 1.5.

The
weekend edition of The Insider, however, got a 44% week-to-week and 8%
year-to-year boost to a 1.3 on its extensive coverage of Chelsea
Clinton's wedding.

Game
shows also were little changed. CTD's Wheel of Fortune slowed 2%
to a 5.7. CTD's Jeopardy! inched up 4% to a 5.1, bringing it the
closest to the game leader that it's been this season. Disney-ABC's
Who Wants to be a Millionaire moved up 5% to a 2.3.
Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud and Twentieth's Are You
Smarter than a Fifth Grader
each were flat at a 1.5 and 1.2, respectively.

Also in
access, Warner Bros.' top off-net sitcom, Two and a Half Men, was
unchanged at a 4.2. Twentieth's Family Guy fell 3% to a 3.2.
CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond dropped 3% to a 2.9. NBCU's
newcomer, The Office, came in fourth, slipping 7% to a 2.5, and tying
Sony's Seinfeld, which was flat, and Warner Bros.' George
Lopez
, which dropped 4%. Twentieth's King of the Hill and
Warner Bros.' Friends were flat at a 2.2 and 2.1, respectively.

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.