Syndication Ratings: Ratings Wake Up After Short Winter's Nap

Syndication came back to life in the week ended Jan. 13, following two slow weeks that included the Christmas and New Year’s holiday weeks that were marked by preemptions and repeats.

Magazines continued to rally for a second straight frame with plenty of ratings luster in most cases for coverage of the 76th annual Golden Globe awards on Sunday, Jan. 6.

CBS Television Distribution’s Entertainment Tonight led all magazines for the second week in a row with a 14% gain from the prior week to a 3.2. CTD’s InsideEdition added 15% to a 3.1. NBCUniversal’s Access was the only magazine to hit a new season high, leaping 17% to a 1.4 and breaking a tie with Warner Bros.’ TMZ, which advanced 8% to a 1.3. Warner Bros.’ Extra rallied 10% to a three-week high 1.1. CTD’s DailyMailTV delivered an 11% spurt to a 1.0. Twentieth’s Page Six TV held its ground at a 0.6. Trifecta’s Celebrity Page logged a 0.2 for the 15th straight week.

Debmar-Mercury’s typical game leader FamilyFeud fell to third in the household race for the first time in months, even though it accelerated 8% to a 6.5. CTD’s Wheel of Fortune took sole possession of the top spot for the first time since the week ended Sept. 30 with a 12% climb to a new season-high 6.7. CTD’s Jeopardy! jumped into second place, adding 14% to a new season-high 6.6.

Disney’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire broke even at a 1.6 for the fifth consecutive week, while Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask stabilized at a 0.5 for the 25th straight week.

Disney’s viral video show RightThisMinute moved ahead 8% to a 1.3.

CTD’s Dr. Phil, which had been in repeats for the prior two weeks, returned to originals and rocketed 26% to a 2.9 to lead the talkers for the 123rd straight week with five ties. Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Phil grew 30% to a 1.3.

Disney’s Live With Kelly and Ryan and Warner Bros.’ The Ellen DeGeneres Show tied for second place to a 2.2, with Live dipping 4% and Ellen adding 5%.

NBCU’s Maury was constant for the fifth straight week at a 1.4. NBCU’s Steve Wilkos was unchanged at a 1.2, tying NBCU’s Steve, starring Steve Harvey, which improved 9%. Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams, which was in repeats while the host takes an indefinite leave, and CTD’s Rachael Ray both remained at a 1.1

Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz leveled out at a 1.0. Warner Bros.’ The Real rebounded 17% to a 0.7. CTD’s The Doctors continued to operate at a 0.6 for the fifth straight week. The syndicated run of the out-of-production Jerry Springer stood pat at a 0.4 for the 18the week in a row, tying Disney’s Pickler & Ben, which held steady.

CTD’s rookie panel talker Face the Truth perked up 14% to a 0.8, while Debmar-Mercury’s Caught in Providence, which is renewed for a second season, fell back 14% to a 0.6.

The two-week test of CTD’s Breakthrough With Dr. Steve Perry, which began Jan. 7 on Fox stations in eight markets ended with a 0.4/1 weighted metered market average, down 50% from both its lead-in and year-ago time period average. Among women 25-54, Breakthrough finished at a 0.3/2, off 25% from its lead in and down 40% from its year-ago time periods.

Returning to the national ratings for the week ended Jan. 13, the top three court shows all were higher.

CTD’s Judge Judy closed in on six months of being syndication’s number-one show in the household ratings, leading all shows for the 24th consecutive week with one tie after a 14% spike to a 7.4.

CTD’s Hot Bench, the brainchild of Judge Judy Sheindlin, grew 14% to a 2.5 to rank as daytime’s third-highest show behind only Judy and Phil.

Warner Bros.’ People’s Court clocked a 1.5, moving up 7%, while Warner Bros.’ JudgeMathis and Twentieth’s Divorce Court both were unchanged at a 1.0 and 0.7, respectively.

On the true crime beat, NBCU’s off-net strip Dateline surged 17% to a 1.4. SPT’s off-A&E Live PD Police Patrol remained at a 1.1. Off Investigation Discovery’s TrueCrime Files was unchanged at a 0.3 for the 18th straight week. NBCU’s scripted off-net strip Chicago PD held firm at a 1.0.

Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory heated up 9% to lead the off-net sitcoms at a 4.8. Twentieth’s Last Man Standing recovered 15% to a 2.3. Twentieth’s Modern Family moved up 5% to a 2.1. SPT’s The Goldbergs grew 7% to a 1.6. Twentieth’s FamilyGuy gained 17% to a 1.4. Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men remained at a 1.3. Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly added 9% to a 1.2. Disney’s black-ish backtracked 8% to a 1.1, tying Warner Bros.’ 2 Broke Girls, which advanced 10% to a 1.1. SPT’s Seinfeld sprinted ahead 11% to a 1.0.

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.