Christmas Week Is Bah, Humbug For Syndies

There were not many Nielsen presents for syndicated strips during the Christmas week frame ending Dec. 26. With almost every show in repeats, family holiday activities dominated the session and most top-tier talkers gave back their gains of the previous week. In addition, daytime syndies were hit by preemptions for the Obama press conference on Dec. 22 and most other genres went sideways or down.

Talk Shows

As the new Oprah Winfrey Network revved up on cable, the lame duck Oprah (CTD) syndication effort stumbled to a new season low mark for the second week in a row, skidding 17% to a 3.5. Oprah was also trounced by Judge Judy (CTD) for daytime leadership honors. Judy drew 6,085,000 viewers compared to 4,926,000 for Oprah.

Among other members of the yak pack, Live with Regis and Kelly (Disney-ABC) lost 3% to a 2.8; Dr. Phil (CTD) slipped 18% to a 2.3; Dr. Oz (Sony) sank 8% to a 2.2; Maury (NBCU) was unchanged at a 2.1; and Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) declined 26% to a 2.0.

First-Run Freshmen

In rookie action, Swift Justice with Nancy Grace (CTD) topped the newcomers for the 15^th week in a row, holding steady at a 1.3. Don’t Forget the Lyrics (Twentieth) was flat at a 1.0; Nate Berkus (Sony) was up 11% to a 1.0, tying Lyrics; while Judge Karen’s Court (Litton) and America’s Court with Judge Ross (Entertainment Studios) were both unchanged at 0.6 and 0.4, respectively.

Court Shows

Judy snatched the daytime crown from Oprah for the fourth week in a row and easily topped the court shows with a 4.1, which was off 7% from the week before. Judge Joe Brown (CTD) held steady at a second-place 2.0; while People’s Court (WBDTD), Judge Mathis (WBDTD) and Divorce Court (Twentieth) were all flat at 1.8, 1.5 and 1.3, respectively.

Magazine Shows

Magazines were all down week to week as most strips included the very low-rated Christmas Eve telecasts in their averages. Compared to 2009 at this time, The Insider (CTD) was the one magazine showing growth, improving by 7% to a 1.6. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) was No. 1 in the category, although down15% to a 3.4; Inside Edition (CTD) faded 16% to a 2.6; Access Hollywood (NBCU) lost 10% to a 1.8; TMZ (WBDTD) was down 11% to a 1.7; the The Insider strip dipped 6%, although The Insider Weekend was up 18% to a 1.3. Meanwhile, Extra (WBDTD), which was heavily preempted, gave back 12% to a 1.5.

Game Shows

Game shows were also mostly weaker, with Wheel of Fortune (CTD) sliding 7% to a 6.7; Jeopardy (CTD) tumbling 10% to a 5.5; and Who Wants to be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) dropping 4% to a 2.2. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) gained 6% to a 1.8, while Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader? (Twentieth) trailed with an unchanged 1.0.

Off-Net Sitcoms

Several big off-net sitcoms bucked the overall downtrend, although leader Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) eroded 12% to a 5.3 and Family Guy (Twentieth) fell 7% to a 3.9. On the positive side, Everybody Loves Raymond (CTD) was up 7% to a new season high 3.1; My Wife and Kids (Disney-ABC) added 3% to a new season high 3.0: while George Lopez Show (WBDTD) jumped 13% to a new season high 2.7.

Off-Net Freshmen

Among the new off-net and off-cable strips, How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth), Meet the Browns (Debmar-Mercury) and The New Adventures of Old Christine (WBDTD) were all flat at 2.5, 1.4 and 1.4, respectively. Ugly Betty (Disney-ABC) was down 11% to a 0.8, tying True Hollywood Stories, which was unchanged at a 0.8.

Off-Net Weekly Hours

Criminal Minds (CTD) regained the lead among weeklies with a 3% advance to a 3.1. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU), which had surged into the top spot in the previous week, faltered and lost 13% to a 2.8. Numbers (CTD) chalked up a 15% increase to a 2.3 and landed in a tie with Without a Trace (WBDTD), which was flat at a 2.3, while Bones (Twentieth) was down 8% to a 2.2.