Ratings for syndicated magazines continued to sparkle in the
week ending Jan. 10. After seeing sharp
gains in the week ending Jan. 3, newsmags came right back with another stellar
outing, as all six strips scored double-digit increases from the prior
session. Elsewhere, the top tier talk
shows were also on fire.
CBS Television Distribution's (CTD) Entertainment Tonight maintained its dominance in magazine with a
huge 27% jump from the week before to a new season-high 5.2 and clocked the
biggest week-to-week improvement of any strip in syndication. CTD's Inside
Edition was up 23% to a new season-high 3.7. NBCU's Access
Hollywood, which was the only magazine to decline in the week ending Jan. 3
when it slipped 10%, rebounded 21% to 2.3.
Warner Bros.' TMZ grew 11% to
a 2.1. Warner Bros.' Extra added 18% to 2.0. CTD's The
Insider climbed 12% to 1.9.
CTD's Oprah led
the talk shows with a 15% hike from the week before to 4.6, but was still down
16% from last year at this time. CTD's Dr. Phil leaped 19% to a 3.1 and was
exactly even with last year.
Disney/ABC's Live With Regis and
Kelly was up 20% to a new season-high 3.0 and up 3% from last year, as
Regis Philbin returned with a new hip after being off the show for slightly
more than a month. Warner Bros.' Ellen Degeneres surged 19% to 2.5 and
was up 9% from last year. CTD's The Doctors, which snared a healthy 33%
increase in the previous session, was up 5% to 2.1 and 11% from last year. CTD's Rachael
Ray rallied 11% to a new season-high 2.0 and was up 11% from last
year. Rachael's show with chef Rocco
DiSpirito was her hot potato of the week, with ratings going up 22% to 2.2 on
Jan. 8. NBCU's Maury was down 13% to 2.0, but still up 18% from last year. NBCU's Jerry
Springer was flat at 1.4 but was up 27% from last year. NBCU's Steve
Wilkos slipped 8% to 1.2 but was up 9% from last year. Warner Bros.' Bonnie Hunt was down 10% both week-to-week and year-to-year to a 0.9. NBCU's Martha
Stewart held steady for both the week and year at its season-high 0.7.
Among court shows, CTD's Judge
Joe Brown hit a new season-high for the second straight week, improving 4%
to a 2.4 as the no. 2 gaveler. Leader
CTD's Judge Judy was up 7% to 4.7 and
topped all daytime shows in first-run for the seventh consecutive week, beating
Oprah by 2%. Other than the top two, court rooms were flat
to down. Warner Bros.' People's Court was unchanged at
2.2. Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis lost 6% to a 1.7.
Twentieth's Judge Alex was
flat at 1.6. Twentieth's Divorce
Court sank 6% to 1.5. Warner Bros.' Judge Jeannine Pirro trailed with an unchanged 1.1.
Among newcomers, Sony's Dr.
Oz was up a healthy 11% to a new season-high 3.1 and held his lead over the
just-renewed Twentieth's Are You Smarter
Than a Fifth Grader, which got a 13% promotion to a new season-high
1.8. Debmar-Mercury's Wendy Williams was a distant third at an
unchanged 1.1. Litton's Street Court was flat at 0.7.
NBCU's The Office
led the rookie off-nets with a steady 2.9.
Twentieth's My Name is Earl
gained 11% to a new season-high 2.1.
CTD's Everybody Hates Chris liked
an 11% advance to 2.0.
CTD's Wheel of Fortune
topped the gamers, riding a 9% bump to a new season-high 7.6. CTD's Jeopardy
was up 7% to a 6.2. Disney/ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire inflated
8% to a new season-high 2.8.
Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud
tacked on 7% to a new season-high 1.5.
NBCU's Deal Or No Deal was
flat at 1.3.
Off-net sitcoms were also mostly higher. Despite the negative publicity beginning on
Christmas Day for star Charlie Sheen, Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men was up 11% to 4.9. Twentieth's Family Guy got a 17% boost to 3.5.
Warner Bros.' George Lopez
leaped 12% to a new season-high 2.9.
CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond
rose 4% to 2.8. Sony's Seinfeld was up 4% to 2.6. Twentieth's King of the Hill was unchanged at 2.3. Warner Bros.' Friends rose 10% to 2.2.
Sony's King of Queens gained
6% to 1.7. Frasier was flat at 1.6. House of Payne suffered 17% decline to a 1.5.
