Syndication Ratings: Santa Brings Season Lows

Season lows were the norm in the traditionally slow week between Christmas and New Year’s that ended Dec. 30.

Disney’s Live With Kelly and Ryan was one of few strips in first run to find ratings under its tree even though it aired only one live original during the week, filling out the rest of the days with taped originals and repackaged episodes. Live matched its season high, rising 5% to a 2.3 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, and tying CBS Television Distribution’s usual leader Dr. Phil for first place.

Dr Phil, which was one of the few shows to include the very lightly viewed Christmas day in its overall average, declined 21% with a week of repeats, although the show still managed to tie Live for a first-place finish in talk.

Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Phil and Live also tied for first at a 1.0.

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Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres dipped 5% to a 1.8. Rounding out talk’s top five were NBCUniversal’s Maury, which was unchanged at a 1.4 and NBCU’s Steve, starring Steve Harvey, which went into a full week of reruns and gave back 8% to a 1.2.

NBCU’s Steve Wilkos was flat at a 1.1, tying Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams, which deteriorated 15% to a new season low, and CTD’s Rachael Ray, which has been renewed for next season by ABC stations in top markets.

Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz dropped 10% to a new season-low 0.9. Warner Bros.’ The Real retreated 14% to a 0.6, tying CTD’s The Doctors, which was unchanged.

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The syndicated run of NBCU’s out-of-production Jerry Springer stood pat at a 0.4 for the 16th week in a row, tying Disney’s Pickler & Ben, which held steady.

Among this year’s two rookies, CTD’s panel talker Face the Truth fell 13% to a 0.7, while Debmar-Mercury’s Caught in Providence caught up 20% to a 0.6.

On Monday, Jan. 7, a two-week trial run of CBS Television Distribution’s Breakthrough With Dr. Steve Perry debuted on Fox owned stations in eight markets to a 0.4 rating/1 share weighted metered market average, down 43% from its lead-in and off 50% from its year-ago time periods.

Among women 25-54, the first episode lost 50% from its lead-in and fell 60% from year-ago time periods to a 0.2/1.

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Back among the veterans, CTD’s Judge Judy backtracked 14% to a 6.0 with five days of repeats, tying Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud as syndication’s top show among households.

CTD’s Hot Bench, in repeats for most of the week, yielded 9% to a 2.1 Warner Bros.’ People’s Court and Judge Mathis and Twentieth’s Divorce Court all were stable at a 1.4, 1.0 and 0.7, respectively.

Access magazines were hit hard by holiday and sports preemptions and their ratings reflected that. CTD’s Inside Edition led the magazines but eroded 10% to a new season-low 2.7. CTD’s Entertainment Tonight declined 21% to a new season-low 2.3. Warner Bros.’ TMZ slumped 8% to a 1.1. NBCU’s Access pulled back 23% to a new season-low 1.0. Warner Bros.’ Extra eased18% to a new season-low 0.9. CTD’s Daily Mail TV lost 20% to a new season-low 0.8. Twentieth’s Page Six TV receded 14% to a 0.6. Trifecta’s Celebrity Page posted a 0.2 for the 13th straight week.

Most of the entertainment magazines rebounded, however, with next-day coverage of the 76th annual Golden Globes, which aired on Sunday, Jan. 6.

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ET averaged a 2.8/5 weighted metered market average for all telecasts on Monday, Jan. 7, 17% ahead of last year’s time period average. Access scored a 1.9/4, up 36% and Extra clocked a 1.5/4, up 15%.

Family Feud fell 6% to a 6.0 to lead the games in households for a third straight week, as well as all of syndication. CTD’s Jeopardy! skidded 11% to a 5.5, while CTD’s Wheel of Fortune slowed 13% to a 5.4.

Further back, Disney’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire was unchanged at a 1.6. Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask stayed at a 0.5 for the 23rd straight week.

ABC’s viral video show RightThisMinute faded 8% to a new season low 1.1.

Among the new true-crime genre, NBCU’s off-net Dateline declined 14% to a 1.2. SPT’s off -A&E Live PD Police Patrol recovered 9% to a 1.2. Off-Investigation Discovery’s True Crime Files was unchanged at a 0.3 for the 16th consecutive week.

NBCU’s scripted Chicago PD jumped 10% to a new season-high 1.1.

Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory cooled off 7% to lead the off-net sitcoms at a 4.3. Twentieth’s Last Man Standing and Modern Family both were flat at a 2.2 and 1.9, respectively. SPT’s The Goldbergs downticked 7% to a 1.4, tying Warner Bros.’ steady Two and a Half Men. Twentieth’s Family Guy gave back 8% to a 1.2, tying Disney’s rookie Black-ish, which was unchanged, and Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly, which added 9%. Warner Bros.’ 2 Broke Girls stayed at a 1.0 tying SPT’s Seinfeld, which celebrated Festivus with an 11% gain.

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.