‘Dr. Phil’ Shines In Dog Days Of August

Dr. Phil was hot in the week ending Aug. 24, taking over sole possession of first place among the talk shows, despite being entirely in reruns. Phil scored its best ratings in more than a month, growing 4% week to week to a 2.6 in a late summer session marked by flat-to-lower numbers for most shows.

Looking at the entire 2013-14 season, which officially ended Aug. 31, Phil was the No. 1 talk show for the third straight year. Live with Kelly & Michael, which has been enjoying a long summer winning streak and its biggest audiences in seven years, was the No. 2 talk show for the season.

For the week, Live had a minor dip but held on for a strong second place at a 2.4 with taped and repackaged shows.

In third place for the current week, Maury clocked the largest increase among the top 10 talkers, surging 12% to a 1.9. Further back, Ellen DeGeneres was unchanged at a fourth place 1.7.

A big gainer was Rachael Ray, which rallied 9% to a 1.2 with an almost all-repeat week. Compared to last year, Steve Harvey had the greatest rating increase in talk, growing 21% for the full 2013-14 season.

For the week in access, all of the top-tier magazines gave back their sharp gains following coverage of Robin Williams’ suicide in the previous frame.

At the top of the overall syndication chart, Judge Judy extended its string of first-place finishes to 22 straight weeks with a 6.3. Judy was also the highest-rated syndicated show of the season for the third year in a row.

The metered market test of Laughs after five weekends fell 50% from its lead-in and lost 33% of its year-ago time period average to a 0.4 rating/1 share.

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

• Dr. Phil (1.2, unchanged from the week before), tied with Maury (1.2, unchanged)
• Live with Kelly & Michael (1.1, -15%)
• Dr. Oz (0.9, -10%), tied with Steve Wilkos (0.9, unchanged) and Ellen DeGeneres (0.9, unchanged)
• Jerry Springer (0.7, unchanged), tied with Wendy Williams (0.7, 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. Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.6 +4%

2. Live with Kelly & Michael (Disney-ABC) 2.4 -4%

3. Maury (NBCU) 1.9 +12%

4. Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) 1.7 NC

5. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.5 -6%

6. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.4 NC

7. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.3 NC

8. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.2+9%

9. Katie (Disney-ABC) 1.1** -8%

9. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.1 NC

11. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.0 NC%

11. The Doctors (CTD) 1.0 NC

13. Queen Latifah (Sony) 0.8 NC

14. The Test (CTD) 0.5 NC

14. Bethenny (WBDTD) 0.5 NC

14. Arsenio (CTD) 0.5 NC

14. Trisha (NBCU) 0.5 +25%

18. The Better Show (Meredith) 0.2 NC

FRESHMEN TALKERS

1. Queen Latifah (Sony) 0.8 NC

2. The Test (CTD) 0.5 NC

2. Bethenny (WBDTD) 0.5 NC

2. Arsenio (CTD) 0.5 NC

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 6.3 -5%

2. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.8 NC

3. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.4 NC

3. Judge Alex (Twentieth) 1.4 +8%

5. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.3 -7%

6. Paternity Court (Orion Television) 0.9 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.0 -14%

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.8 -3%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.7 -6%

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.4 -13%

5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.3 -13%

6. The Insider (CTD) 1.1 -15%

7. Right This Minute (MGM) 1.1 +10%

8. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 1.0 NC

9. OK! TV (Trifecta) 0.3 -25%

9. America Now (Trifecta) 0.3 NC

INTERNET VIDEO

1. Right This Minute (MGM) 1.0 -9%

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 5.9 +4%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 5.5 NC

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 4.8 +4%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.9 NC

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 5.7 +2%

2. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 3.3 +3%

3. Modern Family (Twentieth) 3.2** -3%

4. Family Guy (Twentieth) 2.6 NC

5. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 1.9 +27%

5. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.9 +6%

5. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 1.9 +6%

8. Friends (WBDTD) 1.7 NC

9. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 1.6 NC

9. The Middle (WBDTD) 1.6 NC

11. Rules of Engagement (Sony) 1.1** -8%

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 3.3 +3%

2. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU) 3.2 -11%

3. House (NBCU) 2.4 -8%

4. Castle (Disney-ABC 2.2 NC

4. Criminal Minds (CTD) 2.2 +16%

6. CSI: Miami (CTD) 2.1 NC