First Week Of Olympics Rocks Syndies

Syndicated shows were on thin ice competing against the first full week of the Beijing Winter Olympics in the session ending Feb. 13, and many were retitled to avoid having the Olympics losses included in their regular full-season averages.

One prominent show that did not experience a severe decline due to the Olympics preemptions, schedule changes and sharply upgraded competition was the renamed Family Feud, which became the No. 1 game show in the nation and the overall syndication leader for the first time this calendar year.

Feud dipped a mere 2% from the week before to a 5.7 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating and blew past the retitled Jeopardy, which skidded 13% to a 5.5. After that, Wheel of Fortune–Olym tumbled 14% to a 5.0.

In other dayparts, the Olympics version of talk show titans Live with Kelly and Ryan and Dr. Phil took the gold, remaining deadlocked at the top of the yak pack, with each show scoring a 1.6.

The Judy Judy–Olym strip hit the podium with a world-class 4.8 to crush the court shows for the 1,325^th week in a row and was the only gaveler to hold 100% of its year-ago ratings despite the Olympics competition.

Elsewhere, the renamed Inside Edition eroded 20% to a 2.0, but continued to lead the magazines by a narrow margin.

The top talk shows for the week among women 25-54 were:

• Live­–Olympics (0.6, -14% from the week before)
• Dr. Phil–Olym (0.5, -29%)
• Maury (0.4, unchanged)

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 means not applicable.

TALK SHOWS

Dr. Phil–Olym (CMV) 1.6 -11%

Live–Olympics (Disney-ABC) 1.6 -11%

Kelly Clarkson–Olym (NBCU) 0.8 -11%

Maury (NBCU) 0.8 NC

Ellen DeGeneres–Olym (WBDTD) 0.7 -30%

Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 0.7 -13%

Rachael Ray–Olym (CMV) 0.7 -22%

Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 0.6 NC

Tamron–Olympics (Disney-ABC) 0.6 -25%

Drew Barrymore–Olym (CMV) 0.5 -17%

Nick Cannon (CMV) 0.5 NC

The Good Dish (Sony) 0.4 NC

Jerry Springer (NBCU) 0.3 -25%

The Real (WBDTD) 0.3 NC

The Doctors–Olym (CMV) 0.2 NC

COURT SHOWS

Judge Judy –Olym (CMV) 4.8-9%

Hot Bench –Olym(CMV) 1.4 -13%

People’s Court (WBDTD) 0.9 NC

Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 0.6 -14%

Divorce Court–Olym (Fox First Run) 0.5 NC

Judge Jerry (NBCU) 0.4 -20%

Relative Justice (EW Media Group) 0.4 NC

GAME SHOWS

Family Feud –Olym (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 5.7 -2%

Jeopardy –Olym (CMV) 5.5 -13%

Wheel of Fortune–Olym (CMV) 5.0 -14%

You Bet Your Life –Olym (Fox First Run) 0.8 NC

25 Words or Less–Olym (Fox First Run) 0.8 -11%

Funny You Should Ask(Entertainment Studios) 0.4 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

Inside Edition–Olym (CMV) 2.0 -20%

Entertainment Tonight–Olym (CMV) 1.9 -17%

TMZ–Olym (Fox First Run) 0.7 -22%

Extra (WBDTD) 0.6 -14%

Daily Mail TV–Olym (CMV) 0.5 -17%

Access Hollywood–Olym (NBCU) 0.4 -50%

Dish Nation–Olym (Fox First Run) 0.3 NC

OFF-NET SITCOMS

Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 2.1 -9%

Last Man Standing (Disney-ABC) 1.4 NC

Young Sheldon (WBDTD) 0.9 -10%

Modern Family (Disney-ABC) 0.8 NC

Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 0.8 -11%

Family Guy (Disney-ABC) 0.8 NC

The Goldbergs(Sony) 0.7 -13%

Seinfeld (Sony) 0.6 -14%

Black-ish (Disney-ABC) 0.6 NC

Mike and Molly (WBDTD) 0.5 NC

Mom (WBDTD) 0.5 -17%

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

Dateline Weekly (NBCU) 3.9 -3%

Chicago Fire (NBCU) 1.1 -8%

Monk (NBCU) 0.9 -18%

Bull (CNV) 0.7 NC

­­­Seal Team (CMV) 0.7 NC

Castle (Disney-ABC) 0.7 NC