A Week Of Madness For Syndie Rankings

March Madness hit syndication in the session ending March 24 and massive NCAA basketball tournament preemptions for shows cleared on CBS stations resulted in an atypical week with Dr. Phil, which was in repeats, not topping the talkers for only the fourth time out of 27 tries this season. In fact, only three out of a dozen veteran talk shows were up week to week: Maury, Anderson Live and Jeremy Kyle.

Live with Kelly and Michael, which has had sharp ratings all season with new co-host Michael Strahan, was the No. 1 talker after finishing second for the past eight weeks.

Meanwhile, rookies bounced back, with leader Katie, as well as Steve Harvey and Jeff Probst all showing increases.

In access, several magazines including leader Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Access Hollywood and OMG Insider generated rating increases despite numerous preemptions in some cases and having to deal with the second week of Daylight Saving Time.

In the household rating rankings that follow, * indicates a new season high rating; ** indicates a new season low; % change is from the previous week; NC indicates no change from the previous week.

TALK SHOWS

1. Live with Kelly and Michael (Disney-ABC) 2.5 NC

2. Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.4 -14%

3. Dr. Oz (Sony) 2.3 NC

5. Ellen (WBDTD) 1.9** -14%

4. Maury (NBCU) 2.2 +5%

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

7. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.4 NC

7. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.4 NC

7. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.4 +8%

10. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.3 -7%

10. The Doctors (CTD) 1.3 NC

12. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.2 NC

13. Anderson Live (WBDTD) 1.0 +11%

14. Jeff Probst (CTD) 0.7 +17%

15. Ricki Lake (Twentieth) 0.6 NC

16. Trisha (NBCU) 0.5 NC

16. Jeremy Kyle (Debmar-Mercury) 0.5 +25%

FRESHMEN TALKERS

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

2. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.4 +8%

3. Jeff Probst (CTD) 0.7 +17%

3. Ricki Lake (Twentieth) 0.6 NC

5. Trisha (NBCU) 0.5 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.8 +12%

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.8 NC

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.9 -5%

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.7 +6%

5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.5 +7%

6. OMG Insider (CTD) 1.4 +8%

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 1.0 -9%

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 6.6 NC

2. Judge Joe Brown (CTD) 2.4 +14%

3. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.8 +13%

4. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.4 +8%

5. Judge Alex (Twentieth) 1.3 +8%

5. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.3 +8%

7. America’s Court with Judge Ross (Entertainment Studios) 0.7 +17%

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 7.3 +9%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 6.0 -3%

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 4.9 +2%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 2.4 +9%

5. Baggage (GSN) 1.1 -8%

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 7.4 +7%

2. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 4.8 -2%

3. Family Guy (Twentieth) 3.4 -3%

4. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 2.6 NC

5. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 2.4 +4%

6. Seinfeld (Sony) 2.2 -4%

6. Friends (WBDTD) 2.2 +5%

8. Everybody Loves Raymond (CTD) 1.8 -5%

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 4.0 -7%

2. Law & Order (NBCU) 3.0 +3%

3. House (NBCU) 2.6 -16%

4. Castle (Disney-ABC) 2.3 -8%

5. Criminal Minds (CTD) 2.2 -8%

6. Monk (NBCU) 2.1 +24%