Oscars Bring Ratings Gold to Syndie Mags

Syndie magazine shows won their traditional ratings boosts
for their star-studded coverage of the 85th annual Academy Awards on Monday,
Feb. 25. 

Most of the magazines' ratings were on par with the same
telecast last year, which fell on Feb. 27, 2012, but up significantly compared
to their February 2012 ratings averages. (Ratings averages for February 2013
are still in progress.)

CBS Television Distribution's magazine leader,
Entertainment Tonight
, came in first with a 5.2 rating/9 share in the 56
metered markets, even with last year's rating and up a share point from last
year, when ET earned a 5.2/8. However, compared to the show's February
2012 average, ET's day-after Oscar show was up 24%, demonstrating that
magazine viewers tend to tune in to see Oscar coverage. Moreover, ET's
5.2/9 matched the show's highest single-day rating and scored its best share in
two years.

In second place, CTD's Inside Edition earned a 3.6/8,
exactly even with last year. However, Inside Edition was up 20% compared
to February 2012.

NBCUniversal's Access Hollywood came in third with a
2.6/5, down 7% from last year's show, which scored a 2.8/6. Compared to last
year, however, Access Hollywood was up 24% from its 2.1/5 February 2012
average.

Warner Bros.' Extra came in fourth at a 2.3/5, down
8% from last year, when the show scored a 2.5/5, but up 21% from last February,
when the show averaged a 1.9/4.

CTD's recently rebranded omg! Insider, covering its
first Oscars in its new format, averaged a 2.1/4. That's down 5% from The
Insider
's 2.2/5 performance last year, but up 17% from Feb. 2012, when it
averaged a 1.8/4.

Warner Bros.' TMZ, which doesn't cover the Oscars (or
Hollywood in general) like the more traditional magazines, came in last among
the vets with a 2.0/4, but improved 11% from last year's 1.8/5, and gained 33%
compared to the 1.5/4 it earned in February 2012.

Twentieth's rookie, Dish Nation, averaged a 1.0/2 for
its first post-Oscar show, down 9% compared to its year-ago time period
averages of 1.1/3.

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.