Slow syndies were made slower in the week ended July 28 by massive preemptions on July 24 for blanket coverage of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony.
In addition, shows carried on 28 CBS owned-and-operated stations were blacked out on DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse in 14 markets, including New York and Los Angeles, representing 6.6 million subscribers.
CBS Television Distribution’s Dr. Phil, which was completely in reruns for the ninth straight week, slipped 8% from the prior session to a new season-low 2.0 live plus same day national Nielsen household rating. That was still strong enough to finish first among the talkers for the 151st straight week with five ties.
Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Dr. Phil reruns were tied for first in talk with Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan at a 0.8.
Live kept pace right behind Phil, holding steady at a 1.9 and extending its second-place streak to 22 consecutive weeks.
Holding on to third place was Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres at an unchanged 1.4.
Rounding out the top five were encore episodes of NBCUniversal’s Maury, which eroded 8% to a new series-low 1.1, tying Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams, which also skidded 8% with four originals and one rerun.
Further back, CTD’s Rachael Ray recovered 11% to a 1.0. NBCU’s Steve Wilkos and NBCU’s Steve, which about to conclude, both tumbled 10% to a 0.9, matching their season lows and tying Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz, which was flat for a third straight week.
CTD’s Face the Truth, which will not return for season two, sank 17% to a new season-low 0.5, tying CTD’s The Doctors, which stabilized at its series-low 0.5 for the 11th straight week and Warner Bros.’ The Real, which was flat.
The syndicated version of NBCU’s out-of-production JerrySpringer sputtered 25% to a 0.3, equalling its season low and tying Disney’s soon-to-depart Pickler & Ben, which also was flat at its season low.
CTD’s Judge Judy, which has led the court shows for more than 22 years, aired five days of repeats and gave back 10% to a 5.7.
CTD’s Hot Bench, in repeats for two of the week’s five days, relinquished 5% to a new season-low 1.9. Warner Bros.’ People’s Court sagged 8% to a 1.2, equalling its season low. Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis moved down 11% to a 0.8, matching its series low. Twentieth’s Divorce Court stayed steady at a 0.6 for a fifth consecutive week. Debmar-Mercury’s court rookie, Caught in Providence, posted a season-low 0.5 for the sixth straight week.
Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud led all of syndication but faded 3% to a 5.8 but still led the games for a seventh straight week. CTD’s Jeopardy!, which has lost ground in the past seven of eight weeks dipped 2% to a 5.4. CTD’s Wheel of Fortune forfeited 2% to a 5.0.
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Disney’s soon-to-end Who Wants to be a Millionaire was minus 7% to a 1.4. Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask answered with a 0.5 for the 20th consecutive week.
Week three of the six-week test of the comedy game show Punchline on select Fox stations which began July 15, performed at a 0.3 rating/1 share weighted metered market average on select Fox stations. That was down 50% from its lead-ins and off 40% from its August 2018 time periods. Among women 25-54, the show logged a 0.2 rating/1 share, down 33% from both its lead-in and year-ago time periods.
Back in the national ratings, Disney’s viral video show RightThisMinute slowed down 8% to a 1.1.
Magazines were narrowly mixed. CTD’s leader Inside Edition and stablemate EntertainmentTonight both were off 4% to a 2.5 and 2.3, respectively.
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Warner Bros.’ TMZ rebounded 9% to a 1.2. NBCU’s Access ebbed 9% to a 1.0. Warner Bros.’ Extra, CTD’s DailyMailTV, Twentieth’s Page Six TV and Trifecta’s Celebrity Page all held steady at a 0.9, 0.9, 0.5 and 0.2, respectively.
NBCU’s Dateline declined 8% to a 1.2 but remained the true-crime leader. SPT’s off-A&E Live PD Police Patrol slid 9% to a 1.0. Off-Investigation Discovery’s True Crime Files uncovered an unchanged 0.3.
NBCU’s off-network scripted hour Chicago PD was on par with the 0.8 of the prior week.
Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory inched up 2% to a 4.1. Twentieth’s Last Man Standing slumped 5% to a 2.0. Twentieth’s Modern Family faltered 6% to a 1.6. Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men and Twentieth’s Family Guy both were unchanged at a 1.3. SPT’s The Goldbergs eased 8% to a new series low 1.2. Disney’s newcomer Black-ish, SPT’s Seinfeld and Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly all maintained a 1.0, while Warner Bros.’ 2 Broke Girls garnered a 0.9 for the seventh straight week.
