Tamron Hall was the only syndicated strip to sidestep a holiday downtrend and deliver a new season high in the week ended November 27, which included the long Thanksgiving weekend. Disney's talk strip, now in season four, improved 14% for the week to a 0.8 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, Tamron Hall’s best number of the season so far and 33% ahead of last year at this time.
Tamron Hall's week got off to a good start on Monday, November 21, with an interview with former First Lady Michelle Obama, a daytime TV exclusive. Obama has a new book out, "The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times."
Besides the good news for Tamron Hall, the week ending November 27 was a rough one for syndicated shows. The atypical week was marked by the Thanksgiving holiday, including preemptions on NBC for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the National Dog Show and NFL football games on CBS and Fox.
The preemptions continued on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, as college football siphoned off viewers on ABC, CBS and Fox. Moreover, Fox dedicated approximately 35 hours of its schedule to World Cup soccer matches throughout the week, blowing out most daytime shows on Fox affiliates. The World Cup also provided very strong competition to stations’ regular schedules, especially with the U.S. Men’s team playing on Friday, November 25.
Not surprisingly ratings plunged for most shows while some schedules were moved around or retitled and coded out as World Cup specials. Nielsen also broke out several shows from its ratings coverage on November 24 and 25, due to the big drops in coverage.
Leading all of syndication and the games was CBS Media Ventures’ Jeopardy, which featured the conclusion of its annual Tournament of Champions, which Amy Schneider won on Monday, November 21. Jeopardy returned to regular games on Tuesday, November 22, featuring the return of Chris Pannullo, one of the biggest consecutive winners in the show’s history, notching his 15th straight victory and winning more than $500,000.
By December 2, Pannullo had totaled 20 straight wins and more than $700,000 in winnings, the sixth most consecutive wins by any contestant before finally losing on Tuesday, December 6. Even so, Jeopardy plunged 26% during the week to a new season-low 4.5, although that topped the games and all of syndication for the 11th straight week, including one tie with Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud.
Family Feud fell 18% to a new season-low 4.1, tying CBS’ Wheel of Fortune, which faded 24%, also a new season low.
Fox First Run’s 25 Words or Less and You Bet Your Life were both coded out for the week as World Cup specials. CBS’ newcomer Pictionary, starring Jerry O’Connell, lost 20% to a 0.4. Allen Media Group’s Funny You Should Ask averaged a 0.3 for an eighth consecutive week.
CBS’ Entertainment Tonight took over the magazine lead, despite dropping 14% to a new season-low 1.9. CBS’ Inside Edition was second, skidding 22% to a new season-low 1.8. NBCUniversal’s Access Hollywood descended 13% to a 0.7. Fox’s TMZ was coded out. Warner Bros.’ Extra eased 17% to a 0.5. Fox’s Dish Nation was retitled as a World Cup special for the week and thus turned in no rating.
Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan rolled to its 27th straight first-place finish among talkers, including eight ties with CBS’ Dr. Phil, even though it slipped 6% from its season high to a 1.5.
Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Live led with a 0.5, followed by Dr. Phil at a 0.4, and Tamron Hall, NBCU’s Kelly Clarkson and CBS’ Drew Barrymore all tied at a 0.3.
Back in households, Dr. Phil, which was the only talker to grow in the prior week, weakened 21% to new season-low 1.1, but remained the category’s second highest strip.
Kelly Clarkson and Drew Barrymore both held steady at a 0.9 and 0.8, respectively. In addition, Tamron Hall, Kelly Clarkson and Drew Barrymore were syndication’s only strips to outperform last year at this time. Clarkson grew 13%; Barrymore, which now airs mostly in double half-hour runs, moved up 60%; and Hall surged 33% from the same week one year ago.
CBS’ Rachael Ray retreated 14% to a 0.6. NBCU’s Steve Wilkos went down 17% to a 0.5. Reruns of NBCU’s out-of-production Maury receded 20% to a 0.4. NBCU’s Jerry Springer court-and-talk combo rambled along at a 0.3 for the 11th straight week.
All of the talk rookies -– Debmar-Mercury’s Sherri, Warner Bros.’ Jennifer Hudson and NBCU’s Karamo –- were retitled for the week as World Cup specials, leaving them out of the ratings race for the week.
CBS’ repeats of Judge Judy led the courts, ebbing 15% to a 3.9. CBS’ Hot Bench pulled back 29%, dropping to a new season-low 1.0. Warner Bros.’ People’s Court crumbled 25% to a new season-low 0.6. Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis was minus 17% to a 0.5. Fox’s Divorce Court was coded out. Wrigley Media’s Relative Justice remained at a 0.3 for a fourth week.
Trifecta’s freshman true crime strip iCrime with Elizabeth Vargas was retitled, while Allen Media Group’s rookie court show We the People with Judge Lauren Lake stayed at a 0.3 for a second week.
Among the off-net sitcoms, Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory shrank 16% to a 1.6. Disney’s Last Man Standing stumbled 10% to a 0.9. Disney’s Modern Family and Warner Bros.’ Young Sheldon both shed 13% to a 0.7. Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men tumbled 25% to a new season-low 0.6, tying Disney’s Family Guy and Sony’s The Goldbergs, both of which stayed put. Finally, Sony’s Seinfeld shrank 17% to a 0.5, tying Disney’s Black-ish, which bounced back 25%, and CBS’ rookie The Neighborhood, which held for the 11th consecutive week. ■
