Syndies Bounce Back After Down Weeks

Most syndicated shows rebounded in the week ended March 30 despite still having to compete against the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

For example, four of the seven highest-rated talk shows were up from the week before. Dr. Phil, which airs its 2,000th episode today (April 8), moved up and topped the talkers for the 30^th time in the past 34 weeks, despite being in reruns for two of the five days.

Second-place Live with Kelly and Michael dipped slightly week to week, but was still up 12% from last year at this time. Ellen lost ground but remained third just ahead of the improving Dr. Oz, which tied Maury for fourth. In terms of demos, Maury finished first in talk among women 18-34 and women 18-49 and tied Phil for No. 1 among women 25-54.

Also in the plus column were Steve Harvey, which clocked the biggest year-to-year gain of any talker, jumping 33%, and the already-canceled Katie which recovered a bit from its season low.

Queen Latifah, the season’s sole surviving rookie daytime talk show, easily made it 25 weeks at the top of the freshman class.

Meanwhile, in latenight Arsenio advanced 14% to a three-week high.

At the top of the syndication chart, Judge Judy jumped 10% to a 7.4, tying Wheel of Fortune, which accelerated 6% to a 7.4.

In access, the controversy over putting Kim Kardashian on the cover of Vogue sent a couple of the top entertainment magazines higher despite the March Madness games. Extra grew week to week and also had the biggest year-to-year increase of any magazine by climbing 13%, while The Insider increased 8% from the week before. Dish Nation was up 11% week to week, and in New York it climbed 63% from a year ago.

At the top of the magazine list, Entertainment Tonight was off a tick week to week, but still rose 3% from last year.

The week’s top-rated daytime talk shows in the women 25-54 demo were:

• Dr. Phil (1.5, up 7% from the week before), tied with Maury (1.5, unchanged)
• Live with Kelly and Michael (1.4, -7%), tied with Ellen (1.4, -13%)
• Dr. Oz (1.1, unchanged), tied with Steve Harvey (1.1, unchanged)
• Steve Wilkos (1.0, unchanged), tied with Wendy Williams (1.0, -9%)

In the household rating rankings that follow, % change is from the previous week; * indicates a new season high rating; ** indicates a new season low; NC indicates no change from the previous week; NA mean not applicable.

TALK SHOWS

1. Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.9 +7%

2. Live with Kelly and Michael (Disney-ABC) 2.8 -3%

3. Ellen (WBDTD) 2.5 -7%

4. Maury (NBCU) 2.1 -5%

4. Dr. Oz (Sony) 2.1 +5%

6. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 2.0 +5%

7. Katie (Disney-ABC) 1.6 +7%

8. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.5 NC

9. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.4 NC

9. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.4 NC

11. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.3 NC

12. The Doctors (CTD) 1.2 NC

13. Queen Latifah (Sony) 1.0 -9%

14. Arsenio (CTD) 0.8 +14%

15. Bethenny (WBDTD) 0.7 NC

16. The Test (CTD) 0.6 NC

16. Trisha (NBCU) 0.6 NC

18. The Better Show (Meredith) 0.2 NC

FRESHMEN TALKERS

1. Queen Latifah (Sony) 1.0 -9%

2. Arsenio (CTD) 0.8 +14%

3. Bethenny (WBDTD) 0.7 NC

4. The Test (CTD) 0.6 NC

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 7.4 +10%

2. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.8 NC

3. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.6 NC

4. Judge Alex (Twentieth) 1.5 NC

4. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.5 NC

6. Paternity Court (Orion Television) 1.0 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.7 -3%

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 3.0 +7%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.8 NC

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.7 -6%

4. Extra (WBDTD) 1.7 +6%

6. The Insider (CTD) 1.3 +8%

7. Right This Minute (MGM) 1.2 +9%

8. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 1.0 +11%

9. America Now (Trifecta) 0.3 -25%

9. OK! TV (Trifecta) 0.3 +50%

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 7.4 +6%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 6.2 +2%

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 5.2 -2%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 2.2 NC

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 6.3 +3%

2. Modern Family (Twentieth) 4.3 NC

3. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 3.6 +6%

4. Family Guy (Twentieth) 2.5 -7%

5. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 2.2 +16%

6. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.8 -5%

6. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 1.8 -5%

6. Friends (WBDTD) 1.8 NC

9. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 1.6 -6%

10. Rules of Engagement (Sony) 1.5 NC

10. The Middle (WBDTD) 1.5 NC

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU) 3.3 +27%

1. House (NBCU) 3.3 -6%

3. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 3.1 -6%

4. Criminal Minds (CTD) 2.4 +14%

5. Castle (Disney-ABC) 2.3 +5%

6. CSI: Miami (CTD) 2.1 +5%