For the first time in the last 10 weeks, CBS Television
Distribution's (CTD) Oprah managed to
top CTD's Judge Judy. Winfrey landed exclusives with Jay Leno and
Rosie O'Donnell and celebrated her 56th birthday. Oprah
was up 15% from the week before to a 5.5 in the week ending Jan. 31, after
seeing a 6.2 for the Leno interview on Jan. 28, a 6.1 for Rosie on Jan. 25 and
a 5.2 for her birthday party on Jan. 29.
Other talkers were narrowly mixed. CTD's Dr.
Phil dipped 3% to 3.0. Disney/ABC's Live With Regis and Kelly was down 4% to
2.7. Warner Bros.' Ellen Degeneres gained 4% to 2.6 and came within a tenth of a
ratings point of catching Regis for
the first time. NBCU's Maury was unchanged at 2.1. CTD's The
Doctors grew 5% to 2.0, with a 16% increase to 2.2 for a Jan. 29 episode
devoted to their trip to Haiti,
which provided medical relief to earthquake victims. CTD's Rachael
Ray remained steady at a 1.8. NBCU's
Jerry Springer was up 8% to 1.4. NBCU's Steve
Wilkos and Warner Bros.' Bonnie Hunt
were flat at 1.2 and 0.9, respectively.
NBCU's Martha Stewart slipped
14% to 0.6.
Judge Judy ruled
the courtrooms for the 699th consecutive week, holding firm at 4.9
with more than a 2-to-1 advantage over its closest court show rival. CTD's Judge
Joe Brown was unchanged at 2.3.
Warner Bros.' People's Court,
Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis and
Twentieth's Judge Alex were flat at
2.2, 1.8 and 1.6, respectively.
Twentieth's Divorce Court
was up 14% to 1.6. Warner Bros.' Judge Jeannine Pirro trailed with a 1.1.
Rookie standout, NBCU's The
Office had its best week ever, growing 3% to 3.2, while fellow off-net
sitcom CTD's Everybody Hates Chris
dropped 5% to 1.9 and Twentieth's My Name
Is Earl was unchanged at 1.8. In
first-run, Sony's Dr. Oz continued to
lead, inching ahead 3% to 3.0.
Second-place Twentieth's Are You
Smarter Than a Fifth Grader climbed 6% to 1.8. Further back, Debmar-Mercury's Wendy Williams and Litton's Street Court were flat at 1.2 and 0.6,
respectively.
Magazines continued to perform well, with leader CTD's Entertainment Tonight up 2% to 4.8. Its companion, ET Weekend, jumped 13% week-to-week and 23% year-to-year to
2.7. When rumors of a possible Brad
Pitt-Angelina Jolie breakup hit on Jan. 25, ET's
ratings spiked 17% to a 5.5. CTD's Inside Edition advanced 6% to 3.5. NBCU's Access
Hollywood added 5% to 2.3. Warner
Bros.' TMZ also rose 5% to 2.2. Warner Bros.' Extra was unchanged at 1.9.
CTD's The Insider perked up 6%
to 1.8. Insider Weekend had the sharpest increase of all, surging 33% to a
new season-high 1.6, which was up 23% from last year.
Game shows were little changed for the week. CTD's Wheel
of Fortune edged ahead 1% to 7.6.
CTD's Jeopardy and
Disney/ABC's Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire were flat at 6.4 and 2.7, respectively. Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud fell 7% to 1.4.
NBCU's Deal Or No Deal was up
8% to 1.3.
Off-net sitcoms were unchanged to slightly higher. Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men remained at 5.5 for a second week. Twentieth's Family Guy was up 3% to 3.6.
Warner Bros.' George Lopez was
flat at 2.9. Sony's Seinfeld and CTD's Everybody
Loves Raymond were each up 4% to 2.9, tying Lopez. Twentieth's King of the Hill got a 4% boost to a new
season-high 2.4. Warner Bros.' Friends, Sony's King of Queens, Frasier
and House of Payne were all unchanged
at 2.3, 1.7, 1.5 and 1.5, respectively.
