Coverage of the deaths of Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds during the holiday week ended Jan. 1, 2017, drove magazine leader Entertainment Tonight to its second-highest rating of the season.
CBS Television Distribution’s ET, with new executive producer Sharon Hoffman, climbed 6% for the week and year to a 3.4 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Related: Sharon Hoffman Named Executive Producer of 'ET,' 'The Insider'
Still, only NBCU’s Access Hollywood among the magazines also saw gains during the typically slow week, improving 8% from its season low in the prior week to a 1.4 and fourth place overall in the genre.
In second place among the magazines, CTD’s Inside Edition fell 3% to a 2.8. Warner Bros.’ TMZ dropped 6% to a 1.5. Warner Bros.’ Extra and CTD’s The Insider held steady at a 1.3 and 1.1, respectively.
Twentieth’s Dish Nation, which was recently renewed for two more years by the Fox stations, fell 13% for the week and 22% for the year to a 0.7, matching its series low.
Trifecta’s Celebrity Page perked up to a new series-high 0.4 after 40 straight weeks at a 0.3.
Among the games, Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud was the only winner, adding 6% to a 7.4 to lead all of syndication for the fourth consecutive week, counting ties.
In second place, CTD’s Wheel of Fortune slipped 2% to a 6.2. CTD’s Jeopardy! was off 3% to a 6.0. Disney-ABC’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Debmar-Mercury’s Celebrity Name Game, which will end its run after this season, both were unchanged at a 1.7 and 1.3, respectively.
Related: 'Celebrity Name Game' to End After This Season
Elsewhere, Disney-ABC’s viral video show RightThisMinute shot up 7% to a new season-high 1.6.
CTD’s Judge Judy, in reruns for the week, ended the year up 3% for the week to a 6.8 to lead the legal shows for the 1058th straight week, dating back more than 20 years.
CTD’s Hot Bench, also in reruns, rose 4% for the week to match its season-high 2.5.
Warner Bros.’ People’s Court climbed 6% to a 1.8. Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis, Twentieth’s Divorce Court and Trifecta’s Judge Faith all were flat at a 1.4, 1.1 and 0.8, respectively.
CTD’s Dr. Phil, in repeats, dropped 10% to lead the talkers at a 2.8 but still improved the most of any talker from last year at this time with a 17% gain.
Disney-ABC’s Live with Kelly was a close second with a steady 2.6, maintaining its season high despite being on tape all week. Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Live led talk with a 1.3, beating Dr. Phil.
Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres, in reruns, picked up 5% to a 2.0. NBCU’s Maury moved ahead of NBCU’s Steve Harvey with a 6% bump to a 1.7, while Harvey dropped to fifth place and skidded 6% to a 1.6.
CTD’s Rachael Ray rose 7% to a 1.5. NBCU’s Steve Wilkos and NBCU’s Jerry Springer stayed at a 1.4. Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams, in repeats, weakened 8% to a new season-low 1.2, tying Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz, which was flat.
NBCU’s newcomer Harry, also in reruns and preempted in a few markets by holiday programming, dropped 8% to a 1.1.
Warner Bros.’ Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen, which has been renewed for a third season, grew 10%, the most of any talk show, to a 1.1, tying Harry. Year to year, Crime Watch Daily also was up 10%, the second best annual increase in the genre after Dr. Phil.
Related: 'Crime Watch Daily' Renewed for Season 3
CTD’s The Doctors and Warner Bros.’ The Real each held steady at a 0.9 and 0.8, respectively.
Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory continued to lead the sitcoms although it plunged 29% to a new season-low 4.0 after it and fellow Warner Bros.-produced show 2 Broke Girls were heavily preempted during the week in favor of marathons of TBS' original comedies and other programming. Twentieth’s Modern Family slipped 3% to 2.9. Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men remained at a 2.5. Twentieth’s Mike & Molly gained 5% to a 2.0. Twentieth’s rookie Last Man Standing stood pat at a 1.9. Twentieth’s How I Met Your Mother welcomed a 14% spike to a new season-high 1.6. 2 Broke Girls sank 28% to a new series-low 1.3, tying Twentieth’s The Cleveland Show, which slid 7%. SPT’s Seinfeld sagged 8% to a 1.2, tying Twentieth’s King of the Hill, which was flat.
