Bah, Humbug For Syndies In Christmas Week

Live with Kelly & Michael was the big ratings winner in the holiday week ending Dec. 28, hitting a new season high and easily topping the talkers in both households and women 25-54. Most other shows declined as many viewers abandoned their sets in favor of Christmas activities.

Kelly & Michael, which has been enjoying its strongest Nielsen season since 2007, jumped 6% week to week and 10% year to year to a season-record 3.3. Rachael Ray was the only other talk show out of 15 programs in the genre on the upswing, surging 14% from the prior session to a 1.6, matching its season high and improving 7% from last year.

Dr. Phil went into reruns for the entire week and finished as the second highest-rated talk show with a 2.4, and that represented a 4% increase over last year.

Ellen DeGeneres was third at a 2.3, with a mixture of originals and repeats. Maury rounded out the top four with a steady 2.0 in households and improved 7% to a second-place 1.3 demo rating among women 25-54 behind only Kelly & Michael’s 1.5.

Elsewhere, Jeopardy fell 12 week to week, but still tied Wheel of Fortune for game show leadership as Wheel skidded 18% to a new season low. Both strips posted a 6.0 rating, which was good enough for first place in syndication overall.

Among magazines, the top six Monday-Friday strips were all down by double digits thanks to massive holiday preemptions, but the weekend edition of Entertainment Tonight surged 7% to a 1.5, matching its season high.

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

• Live with Kelly & Michael (1.7, +13% from the week before)
• Maury (1.4, +7%)
• Ellen DeGeneres (1.2, -25%)
• Dr. Phil (1.0, -33%)
• Steve Wilkos (0.9, -10%), tied with Wendy Williams (0.9, -31%)
• Rachael Ray (0.8, unchanged), tied with Steve Harvey (0.8, -27%) and Jerry Springer (0.8, 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

1. Live with Kelly & Michael (Disney-ABC) 3.3* +6%

2. Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.4** -23%

3. Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) 2.3** -28%

4. Maury (NBCU) 2.0 NC

5. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.8 -5%

6. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.6 +14%

7. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.4 NC

7. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.4 -7%

9. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.3** -24%

9. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.3 NC

11. Queen Latifah (Sony) 1.0 NC

11. The Doctors (CTD) 1.0 NC

13. The Better Show (Meredith) 0.1 -50%

ROOKIES

1. Hot Bench (CTD) 1.4 -13%

2. Celebrity Name Game (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 1.1 -8%

2. Meredith Vieira (NBCU) 1.1 -8%

4. The Real (WBDTD) 1.0 -9%

5. Judge Faith (Trifecta) 0.7 NC

INTERNET VIDEO

1. Right This Minute (MGM) 1.5 -6%

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 5.6** -18%

2. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.6 +7%

3. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.5** -6%

4. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.3 NC

5. Paternity Court (Orion Television) 1.1 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 2.5** -26%

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.4** -25%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.7 -15%

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.3** -24%

4. Extra (WBDTD) 1.3** -19%

6. The Insider (CTD) 1.1 -15%

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 1.0 -9%

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

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 6.0** -18%

1. Jeopardy (CTD) 6.0 -12%

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 5.8 -8%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.7 NC

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 5.1** -15%

2. Modern Family (Twentieth) 3.6 -14%

3. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 3.0 -3%

4. Family Guy (Twentieth) 2.6 +4%

5. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 2.4 NC

6. Mike and Molly (WBDTD) 2.1 -13%

7. Seinfeld (Sony) 2.0 NC

8. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 1.7 -6%

9. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 1.5 -6%

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU) 3.7 -16%

2. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 2.8 -33%

3. Blue Bloods (CTD) 2.4 +9%

4. Castle (Disney-ABC) 2.0 -13%

5. Scandal (Disney-ABC) 1.6 -6%

5. The Closer (WBDTD) 1.6* +23%

5. The Good Wife (CTD) 1.6 NC