‘Family Feud’ Captures Syndication’s Top Spot

Family Feud hosted by Steve Harvey was the highlight of the session ending May 22, easily overpowering all game show competition for the fourth week in a row with a 6% gain to a 7.4 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen, its best rating since Jan. 24.

In addition, Feud shot up 23% from last year and, by a narrow margin, finished first in syndication overall for the second time this season.

Another star performer was Judge Judy, which rose for the fourth straight week, hit its highest ratings in 12 weeks, and came in a tenth of a point behind Feud at a 7.3. This put Judy up 1% from the prior week and up 11% from last year.

Elsewhere, Dr. Phil took a 9% breather after hitting a 12-week high in the previous session, and landed at a 3.1. That was still good enough to top the talkers for the 19^th time in 20 weeks (with one tie).

The renamed Live with Kelly slipped 9% from former co-host Michael Strahan’s highly publicized final week to a close second-place 3.0. The show outperformed the 2.9 season-to-date average for Live with Kelly & Michael and improved 3% over the same week last year.

The only established talk shows actually moving higher week to week were Steve Wilkos, which grew 8% to a 1.4, and The Doctors, which gained a healthy 11% to a 1.0.

Newcomer Crime Watch Daily continued to rule the rookies for the 36^th straight session with a stable 0.9.

Entertainment Tonight set the pace among magazines for the 25^th week in a row with a steady 3.1.

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

• Live with Kelly (1.4, -7% from the week before), tied with Ellen DeGeneres (1.4, +8%) and Dr. Phil (1.4, -13%)

• Maury (1.1, unchanged), tied with Wendy Williams (1.1, +10%)

• Steve Harvey (0.9, unchanged), tied with Steve Wilkos (0.9, +13%)

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) 3.1 -9%

2. Live with Kelly (Disney-ABC) 3.0 -9%

3. Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) 2.4 NC

4. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.8 NC

5. Maury (NBCU) 1.6 NC

5. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.6 NC

7. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.4 NC

7. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.4 NC

7. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.4 +8%

10. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.2 NC

11. The Doctors (CTD) 1.0 +11%

12. The Real (WBDTD) 0.9 NC

13. Meredith Vieira (NBCU) 0.8 NC

DAYTIME ROOKIE SHOWS

1. Crime Watch Daily (WBDTD) 0.9 NC

2. FABLife (Disney) 0.8 +14%

3. Crazy Talk (NBCU) 0.5 NC

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 7.3 +1%

2. Hot Bench (CTD) 2.5 NC

3. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.8 +6%

4. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.4 NC

5. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.2 NC

6. Judge Faith (Trifecta) 0.8 NC

GAME SHOWS

1. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 7.4 +6%

2. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 6.4 +2%

3. Jeopardy (CTD) 6.0 NC

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.3 NC

4. Celebrity Name Game (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 1.3 -7%

INTERNET VIDEO

1. Right This Minute (MGM) 1.1 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.1 NC

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.9 -3%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.8 NC

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.5 -6%

5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.4 NC

6. The Insider (CTD) 1.1 -8%

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 0.9 NC

8. Celebrity Page (Trifecta) 0.3 NC

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 5.3 -5%

2. Modern Family (Twentieth) 3.0 NC

3. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 2.6 -4%

4. Family Guy (Twentieth) 2.0 NC

5. Mike and Molly (WBDTD) 1.9 -5%

5. Two Broke Girls (WBDTD) 1.9 NC

5. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.9 +6%

8. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 1.6 NC

8. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 1.6 NC

10. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 1.3 NC

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOUR DRAMAS

1. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 4.4 -2%

2. The Closer (WBDTD) 2.8 +4%

3. Blue Bloods (CTD) 2.0 -5%

4. Castle (Disney-ABC) 1.8 -5%

5. Scandal (Disney-ABC) 1.5 NC

6. The Mentalist (WBDTD) 1.3 NC

6. Rizzoli & Isles (WBDTD) 1.3 +8%