Ratings No Gamble For ‘Jeopardy,’ Holzhauer

Jeopardy ratings rose to a six-week high and topped all syndicated shows in the session ending April 21, the final frame before the May sweep as contestant James Holzhauer took home a $131,137 payday on April 17 and shattered the program’s single-day winnings record, a mark also held by Holzhauer.

Jeopardy jumped 5% to a 6.7 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating beating frequent quiz show topper Family Feud’s 6.1.

Syndication powerhouse Judge Judy, which had ruled the household ratings for a modern record 40 straight weeks, aired five days of reruns and dipped 3% to a close second-place 6.5.

Judy was also one of several strips preempted in a number of markets due to the coverage of the Notre Dame fire on April 15 and the Mueller Report’s public release on April 18.

In other action, Dr. Phil eased 4% to a 2.7, but still finished first in the talk show category for the 137^th consecutive week.

Live with Kelly and Ryan was the only talker in the big three ahead of last year, improving 5% annually. In addition, Live continued to roll with a 5% rally to a 2.3, outperforming Ellen DeGeneres for the eighth week in a row. Ellen was unchanged at a 1.9.

Further back, Wendy Williams picked up 7% to a 1.5, while Maury and Steve Harvey’s Steve held steady at 1.3 and 1.2, respectively.

Elsewhere, rookie Chicago P.D. was one of the very few strips to collar double-digit increases, strengthening 13% to a 0.9 and leaping 25% in the key women 25-54 demo.

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

• Dr. Phil (1.1, -8% from the week before)
• Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.0, unchanged)
• Ellen DeGeneres (0.8, -11%), tied with Wendy Williams (0.8, +14%)
• Maury (0.7, unchanged)
• Steve Wilkos (0.6, unchanged)
• Steve (0.5, 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 mean not applicable.

TALK SHOWS

Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.7 -4%

Live with Kelly and Ryan (Disney-ABC) 2.3 +5%

Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) 1.9 NC

Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.5 +7%

Maury (NBCU) 1.3 NC

Steve (NBCU) 1.2 NC

Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.1 NC

8. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.0 NC

Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.0 NC

The Real (WBDTD) 0.7 NC

The Doctors (CTD) 0.6 +20%

Pickler & Ben (Disney-ABC) 0.4 NC

Jerry Springer (NBCU) 0.4 NC

FIRST-RUN ROOKIE SHOWS

Face the Truth (CTD) 0.7 -13%

Caught in Providence (20th Television) 0.5 -17%

COURT SHOWS

Judge Judy (CTD) 6.5 -3%

Hot Bench(CTD) 2.1 -9%

People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.5 NC

Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.0 NC

Divorce Court (20th Television) 0.7 NC

GAME SHOWS

Jeopardy (CTD) 6.7 +5%

Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 6.1 +2%

Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 5.9 NC

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.5 -6%

Funny You Should Ask(Entertainment Studios) 0.5 NC

INTERNET VIDEO

Right This Minute (Disney-ABC) 1.2 NC

OFF-NET TRUE CRIME

Dateline M-F (NBCU) 1.3 -7%

Live PD: Police Patrol (Sony) 1.1 NC

True Crime Files (20th Television) 0.3 NC

SCRIPTED OFF-NET POLICE PROCEDURAL

Chicago P.D. (NBCU) 0.9 +13%

MAGAZINE SHOWS

Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 2.8 NC

Inside Edition (CTD) 2.8 NC

TMZ (WBDTD) 1.3 NC

Access (NBCU) 1.2 -8%

Extra (WBDTD) 1,1 NC

Daily Mail TV (CTD) 0.9 -10%

Page Six TV(20th Television) 0.6 NC

Celebrity Page (Trifecta) 0.2 -33%

OFF-NET SITCOMS

Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 4.3 -2%

Last Man Standing (20th Television) 2.1 -9%

3. Modern Family (20th Television) 1.8 +6%

The Goldbergs(Sony) 1.5 +7%

Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 1.4 NC

Family Guy (20th Television) 1.2 -8%

Mike and Molly (WBDTD) 1.1 NC

Black-ish (Disney-ABC) 1.0 -9%

Two Broke Girls (WBDTD) 1.0 NC

Seinfeld (Sony) 1.0 NC

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

Dateline Weekly (NBCU) 3.5 +17%

NCIS: New Orleans (CTD) 1.5 -12%

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU) 1.3 NC

Castle (Disney-ABC) 1.2 NC

Chicago P.D. (NBCU) 1.2 -14%

Madam Secretary (CTD) 0.9 -10%

Rizzoli & Isles (WBDTD) 0.9 NC