Syndication Ratings: Magazines Make Hay While Oscars Sun Shines

Next-day coverage of entertainment’s Super Bowl — the 91st Annual Academy Awards, which aired Sunday, Feb. 24 — elevated several syndicated shows on Monday, Feb. 25.

CBS Television Distribution’s Entertainment Tonight led the pack with a 4.0 rating/7 share primary-run weighted metered market average, up 18% from its year-ago time period average.

ET sister show Inside Edition garnered a 3.3/7, up 10% from last year.

NBCU’s Access and Warner Bros.’ Extra did not see annual increases for their Oscars coverage due to the fact that last year NBC stations were airing wall-to-wall coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Access turned in a 2.0/4 single-day performance, down 31% from its February 2018 time-period average when NBC stations were largely running Olympics coverage.

Similarly, Extra averaged a 1.8/4 with its post-Oscars coverage, off 25% from February 2018.

Warner Bros.’ TMZ improved 8% from last year to a 1.4/3, while CTD’s DailyMailTV and Twentieth’s Page Six TV both hit a 0.8/2 to improve 14% from last year.

On the talk side, Disney’s Live with Kelly andRyan got a big next-day boost for its annual "Live After-Oscars Show," which earned the series its highest single-day metered market rating since Feb. 27, 2017, gaining 23% from its year-ago time-period average to a 3.2/11.

Meanwhile, in the week ended Feb. 17, syndication hit the mid-point of the February 2019 sweep, which runs Jan. 31 through Feb. 27.

In daytime, many shows saw preemptions on Friday, Feb. 15, for coverage of President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.’ southern border.

CTD’s Judge Judy dipped 1% from its season high to a 7.8, which kept it in the overall syndication lead for the 32nd week with four ties.

CTD’s Hot Bench remained at its season-high 2.6 for a third straight week and was daytime’s third-highest ranked show for the sixth week in a row.

Warner Bros.’ People’s Court stayed at a 1.5. Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis moved up 10% to a 1.1. Twentieth’s Divorce Court recovered 14% to a 0.8.

CTD’s Dr. Phil was the only talker in the top tier to improve for the week, climbing 3% to a 3.3, matching its season high and leading the category for the 128th consecutive week with five ties. Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Phil also led with a 1.5.

Live held steady at a 2.3 to take over second place, while Warner Bros.’ The Ellen DeGeneres Show fell 8% to a 2.2 to land in third.

Rounding out the top five, NBCU’s Maury and Steve both were stable at their previous season highs of 1.5 and 1.4, respectively.

Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams was guest-hosted by Sherri Shepherd, Michael Rapaport and Jerry O’Connell and fell back 8% to a 1.2. Williams, who has been out recovering after illness and injury, returns to her eponymous show on March 4.

Related: Wendy Williams to Return to Talk Show March 4

NBCU’s Steve Wilkos was flat at a 1.2 tying Wendy, Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz and CTD’s Rachael Ray. Oz and Rachael each rallied 9%.

Warner Bros.’ The Real remained at a 1.7 for a sixth straight week. CTD’s The Doctors flatlined at a 0.6. Disney’s Pickler & Ben, produced by E. W. Scripps, was unchanged at a 0.4, tying the syndicated run of NBC’s out-of-production Jerry Springer, which posted a 0.4 for the 23rd consecutive week.

CTD’s rookie panel talker Face the Truth, starring Vivica A. Fox, recovered 13% to a 0.9. Debmar-Mercury’s freshman Caught in Providence, starring 82-year-old Judge Frank Caprio, stood pat at a 0.6.

Related: 'Caught in Providence' Cleared to Return for Season Two

Unlike the Oscars, the magazines’ next-day coverage of the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, didn’t bump the shows. Only one magazine improved for the week: Access, which jumped 23% on Monday, Feb. 11, to a 1.6 one-day household rating, and improved 8% for the week to a 1.4. 

Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition tied for first for the week at a 3.2, with the former down 3% for the week and the latter unchanged. TMZ fell back 8% to a 1.3.

Extra held steady at a 1.1 and broke a tie with DailyMailTV, which declined 9% to a 1.0 after four weeks at its series-high 1.1. Page Six TV stayed at its series-high 0.7, while Trifecta’s Celebrity Page posted a 0.3 for a second straight week.

Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud inched up 1% to hit a season-best 6.8 and lead the games for a second straight week. CTD’s Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! both slid 2% to a 6.5 to tie for second.

Disney’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire rebounded 13% to a 1.8. Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask made it 30 weeks in a row at a 0.5.

Disney’s viral video show RightThisMinute remained at the prior week’s 1.3.

NBCU’s off-network Dateline, now renewed for season three in 85% of the U.S., led the true crime genre for the 23rd consecutive week, spiking 7% to a 1.5. SPT’s off-A&E Live PD Police Patrol, which also airs on A&E, charted a 1.1 for the seventh straight week, while off Investigation Discovery’s True Crime Files, which only airs in broadcast syndication, held at a 0.3.

Related: Crime Keeps Paying Off in Syndication

NBCU’s scripted off-net procedural, Chicago PD, was steady at a 1.0.

Most of the off-net sitcoms were steady with the prior week. Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory and Twentieth’s Last Man Standing both held at a 4.9 and 2.4, respectively. Twentieth’s Modern Family fell 5% to a 1.9. SPT’s The Goldbergs gave back 6% to a 1.5, tying Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men, which maintained a 1.5. Twentieth’s Family Guy grew 8% to a 1.4. Disney’s Black-ish and Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly remained at a 1.2 and 1.1, respectively. SPT’s Seinfeld spiked 10% to a new season high 1.1, tying Mike & Molly, while Warner Bros.’ 2 Broke Girls stayed at a 1.0 for the fourth straight week. 

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.