Season Debuts Make Syndies More Interesting

Several of the biggest talk shows in syndication kicked off their new seasons to viewer acclaim in the session ending Sept. 9.

Live with Kelly and Ryan launched Season 31 of the Live franchise, and jumped 11% from the prior frame to a six-week high 2.1 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating.

That was second only to Dr. Phil, which had not yet started its new season but still led all talkers for the 105^th week in a row despite being partially in repeats and dipping 4% to a 2.7.

Meanwhile, Ellen DeGeneres took the wraps off Season 16 on Tuesday, Sept. 4, after a summer of reruns with a 25% leap to a 2.0. For the entire week, Ellen averaged a 1.8, although that included the last day of the prior season, which was the low-coverage Labor Day holiday.

In addition, ratings for Steve Harvey’s Steve surged 27% to a 1.4 for its second-season premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 4, although its full-week numbers were sliced to a 1.1 since, like Ellen, its numbers also counted the low-coverage Labor Day holiday, which was not part of Steve’s new season.

Face the Truth, the only new, nationally cleared, first-run strip to debut so far this season, got off to a solid start in the first week, which was the Hurricane Florence session ending Sept. 16. For example, despite the storm, the newcomer averaged a 1.4 rating/6 share at 2 a.m. in Atlanta, up 27% from last year, and also grew versus its year-ago time period in Los Angeles and New York by 25% and 100%, respectively.

Back in the national stats for the week ending Sept.9, ratings for many access shows were penalized by preemptions for Thursday Night Football. However, coverage of the life and death of charismatic movie star Burt Reynolds lifted several entertainment magazines in the key women 25-54 demo. For example, Entertainment Tonight rose 9% to a 1.2; Access surged 20% to a 0.6; while Extra and Daily Mail TV each shot up 25% to a 0.5.

Returning to households, Nielsen’s No. 1 show overall for the sixth straight week was Judge Judy, which scored a top-rated 6.2 even though it was in reruns for part of the session and had not yet unleashed its 23^rd season.

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 (0.9, +13%)
• Ellen DeGeneres (0.8, +14%)
• Maury (0.7, -13%)
• Steve Wilkos (0.6, -14%)

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) 2.7 -4%
2. Live with Kelly and Ryan (Disney-ABC) 2.1 +11%
3. Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) 1.8 +13%
4. Maury (NBCU) 1.2 -8%
5. Steve (NBCU) 1.1 NC
6. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.0 NC
7. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.0 NC
8. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 0.9 -10%
9. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 0.8 NC
10. Dr. Oz (Sony) 0.8 -11%
11. Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen (WBDTD) 0.8 NC
12. The Doctors (CTD) 0.7 +17%
13. Harry (NBCU) 0.5 -17%
14. The Real (WBDTD) 0.5 NC
15. Pickler & Ben (Disney-ABC) NA (being reprocessed)

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 6.2 -7%
2. Hot Bench(CTD) 2.0 NC
3. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.4 NC
4. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.0 NC
5. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 0.8 +14%
6. Judge Faith (Trifecta) 0.5 NC

GAME SHOWS

1. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 6.0 -2%
2. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 5.3 NC
3. Jeopardy (CTD) 5.1 -2%
4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.4 -7%
5. Funny You Should Ask (Entertainment Studios) 0.5 NC

INTERNET VIDEO

1. Right This Minute (Disney-ABC) 1.3 +8%

OFF-NET TRUE CRIME

1. Dateline M-F (NBCU) 1.1 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.8 +4%
2. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 2.7 +4%
3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.2 NC
4. Access (NBCU) 1.1 NC
5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.0 NC
6. Daily Mail TV (CTD) 0.9 NC
7. Page Six TV(20th Television) 0.7 NC
8. Celebrity Page (Trifecta) 0.2 NC

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 4.2 +5%
2. Last Man Standing (Twentieth) 2.0 NC
3. Modern Family (Twentieth) 1.9 +6%
4. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 1.4 +8%
5. The Goldbergs(Sony) 1.4 -7%
6. Family Guy (Twentieth) 1.3 -19%
7. Mike and Molly (WBDTD) 1.2 -8%
8. Two Broke Girls (WBDTD) 1.0 -9%
9. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.0 -9%
10. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 0.9 NC
11. Mom (WBDTD) 0.9 NC

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Dateline Weekly (NBCU) 3.5 +3%
2. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 2.9 NC
3. American Ninja Warrior (NBCU) 1.8 +29%
4. Blue Bloods (CTD) 1.6 +7%
5. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU) 1.5 -6%
6. CSI Miami (CTD) 1.1 NC
7. Castle (Disney-ABC) 1.1 -8%