Cold weather brought warm hearts to syndication executives, as TVs blazed
during the week ending Jan. 26 while people stayed home to avoid the freeze that
hit the Eastern half of the United States.
As a result, many shows hit season highs, including King World Productions'
Dr. Phil at a 5.4, only two-tenths of a ratings point less than King
World's top talker, Oprah, which, at a 5.6, declined 2 percent
week-to-week.
Dr. Phil also started this week out with a bang, scoring a 5.9 rating/15
share in the metered markets for Monday's show.
Dr. Phil wasn't the only new show to hit season highs, with NBC
Enterprises' TheJohn Walsh Show up 7 percent week-to-week to a
1.6, Warner Bros.' TheCaroline Rhea Show up 22 percent to a 1.1
and Twentieth Television's brand-new entry, Good Day Live, up 25 percent
to a 1.0, all of which were bests for each show.
Among the new game shows, Buena Vista's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
was up 9 percent to a season high of 3.6, while Sony Pictures Television's
Pyramid was up 5 percent to a 2.1.
The cold weather brought good news to the veteran game shows, as well, with
King World's Wheel of Fortune up 4 percent to a 10.2 and King World's
Jeopardy! up 7 percent to an 8.0.
Among the rookie reality strips, Warner Bros.' Celebrity Justice moved
up 8 percent to a 1.4, while Paramount Television's Life Moments --
recently downgraded on several NBC owned-and-operated stations -- decreased to a
0.7.
Among veteran strips, Paramount's Entertainment Tonight jumped 8
percent to match its season high of 6.4. King World's Inside Edition was
down 3 percent to a 3.6, while NBC's Access Hollywood jumped 14 percent
to a season-high 3.2. Warner Bros.' Extra was up 7 percent to match its
season-high 3.0.
Finally, the top-five off-network sitcoms all hit or matched their season
highs.
Sony's Seinfeld was up 1 percent and tied Warner Bros.'
Friends, up 4 percent, with each at a 7.9. King World's Everybody
Loves Raymond was up 6 percent to a 7.0. Warner Bros. rookie Will &
Grace was up 2 percent to a 4.6 and another rookie,
Carsey-Werner-Mandabach's That 70s Show, was up 2 percent to a
4.1.
