Bolstered by numerous season premieres, the session ending Sept. 16 was a very strong one for syndication, even though the week included Hurricane Florence, which caused widespread preemptions and eviscerated viewing levels with evacuations, flooding and massive power failures in several markets.
In addition, there were also preemptions for coverage of the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Magazines were especially sharp with CBS Television Distribution's Inside Edition rising 11% from the previous frame to a 3.1 live plus same day national Nielsen rating and landing slightly ahead of CTD sister show Entertainment Tonight, which climbed 7% to a 14-week high 2.9.
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Warner Bros.' TMZ added 8% to a 1.3. NBCUniversal's Access raced ahead 9% to a 15-week high 1.2. Warner Bros.' Extra spurted 10% to a 12-week high 1.1. CTD's DailyMailTV surged 11% to a seven-week high 1.0. Twentieth's Page Six TV held steady at a 0.7 despite high preemptions, and Trifecta's Celebrity Page was unchanged at a 0.2.
In other ratings news for the category, comprehensive next-day reporting on the 70th Emmy Awards gave a boost to the entertainment magazines, all of which were even with or up over year-ago time period averages.
On Sept. 18, Entertainment Tonight recap coverage of the Emmy cast was the highest rated of all the magazines in the overnights with a 3.0 rating/6 share primary run metered market average and time period growth over last year of 25% in New York and 15% in Los Angeles.
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Primary run metered market Emmy recap results for the other entertainment magazines included: Access with a 1.8/4 share and year-over-year time period gains of 29% in Los Angeles and 76% in Philadelphia; Extra with a 1.6 rating/4 share and increases of 35% in Philadelphia and 100% in Washington D.C.; Page Six TV with a 0.8 rating/2 share and spikes of 40% in Los Angeles and 60% in Chicago; and DailyMailTV with a 0.7 rating/2 share and improvement of 20% in New York and 75% in Washington D.C.
On the rookie front, panel talker CTD's Face the Truth, the first of the nationally cleared first-run newcomers to debut this season, premiered at a 0.8, that equaled the third-highest opening week among all first-run strips that have premiered in the past three years. Debmar-Mercury's new courtroom entry, Caught in Providence, the season’s only other fully cleared first-run strip, got out of the gate on Sept. 24 with a preliminary 0.3 rating/1 share weighted metered market average for all telecasts, down 40% from its year-ago time periods.
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Turning to the veterans, CTD's Dr. Phil began operating on season 17 with a 4% advance to a 2.8 and extended its streak of first-place finishes in talk to 106 weeks with two ties. Among women 25-54, Phil was again first in talk with a 1.2 in the key demo. Back in households, Disney-ABC's Live With Kelly and Ryan snared second place with a steady 2.1. Following Live, Warner Bros.' Ellen DeGeneres danced to an 11% gain, landing at a 2.0.
NBCU's Maury recovered 8% to a 1.3. NBCU's and Steve Harvey's Steve swelled 20% among women 25-54 to a 0.6 demo rating and 9% to a nine-week high 1.2 in households to tie Debmar-Mercury's Wendy Williams, which returned to original episodes with a 50% leap to a 1.2.
Further back, NBCU's conflict talker Steve Wilkos picked up 10% to a 1.1. CTD's Rachael Ray was flat at a 1.0 and landed in a tie with Sony Pictures Television's Dr. Oz, which rebounded 25% from a series low the week before to a 1.0.
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Warner Bros.' The Real rallied 20% to a 0.6. CTD's The Doctors deteriorated 29% to a 0.5. NBCU's out-of-production Jerry Springer sank 56% to a new series low 0.4, and for the 12th week in a row ratings for Disney-ABC's Pickler & Ben were reprocessed and not available.
Elsewhere in daytime, CTD's Judge Judy began hearing cases in its 23rd season and continued to show its competition no mercy with an 11% jump to a 16-week high 6.9. That easily topped all first-run and off-net programs for the seventh straight week.
Judy’s CTD creation Hot Bench kicked off season 5 with a 5% gain to a four-week high 2.1. Warner Bros.' People’s Court, Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis, and Twentieth's Divorce Court were unchanged at 1.4, 1.0, and 0.8, respectively. While Trifecta's Judge Faith fell 20% to a new series low 0.4.
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On the game show playing field, leader Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud held steady at a 6.0. CTD's Wheel of Fortune accelerated 8% to a 5.7, tying CTD's Jeopardy!, which answered with a 12% gain to a 5.7.
Disney-ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire appreciated 14% to a 1.6 and Entertainment Studios' Funny You Should Ask was flat at a 0.5.
Meanwhile, Disney-ABC's viral video show RightThisMinute, stayed at a 1.3 and NBCU's off-net true-crime strip Dateline rose 9% to a four-week high 1.2, which was 300% ahead of the off-Investigation Discovery True Crime Files, which debuted at a 0.3.
Among off-net sitcoms, Warner Bros.' leader Big Bang Theory inched up 2% to a 4.3. Twentieth's Last Man Standing was on par with the prior week’s 2.0. Twentieth's Modern Family and SPT's The Goldbergs were unchanged at 1.9 and 1.4, respectively. Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men retreated 7% to a 1.3. Twentieth's Family Guy eased 8% to a 1.2, tying Warner Bros.' Mike & Molly, which maintained its 1.2. Warner Bros.' 2 Broke Girls and SPT's Seinfeld both stayed at a 1.0. While Warner Bros.' Mom remained at a 0.9 for the 10th straight week.
