Gandolfini Coverage Boosts Weekend Mags

While the vast majority of strips declined or, at best, moved sideways in the week ending June 23, several weekend entertainment news shows saw huge increases with extensive reporting on The Sopranos star James Gandolfini, who died suddenly at age 51.

Top weekly hour ET Weekend surged 23% to a 1.6; Extra Weekend spiked 43% to a 1.0, matching its season high; and the new OMG Insider Weekend jumped 13% to a 0.9.

Elsewhere, most shows were in repeats and many were preempted by games 6 and 7 of the NBA Championship Series and the Stanley Cup hockey finals.

An all-rerun week of Dr. Phil topped the talkers for the 36^th time out of 40 week this season. Dr. Oz, also in repeats all week, nevertheless moved up to third place, tying Maury.

Ellen encores and Wendy Williams, which was mostly in originals, had the most year-to-year improvement of any talk show, growing 12% and 18%, respectively, from the same week in 2012.

While Live with Kelly and Michael, which was not live all week, had the next largest year-to-year gain, advancing 5% and finishing in second place.

Among the rookies, Katie opened up its widest lead on the field in nine weeks.

At the top of the syndication chart, Judge Judy, although mostly in reruns, made it eight weeks in a row as the highest-rated program in first run and grew 3% from last year.

The week’s top nationally rated talk shows in the women 25-45 demo were: Dr. Phil (1.4, up 8% from the week before), tied with Live with Kelly and Michael (1.4, unchanged); Maury (1.3, unchanged); Ellen (1.2, -20%); Dr. Oz (1.0, -17%); Wendy Williams (0.9, unchanged); and Katie (0.7, -13%), tied with fellow freshman Steve Harvey (0.7, -13%),  Rachael Ray (0.7, unchanged) and Steve Wilkos (0.7, unchanged).

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. Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.4 NC

2. Live with Kelly and Michael (Disney-ABC) 2.3 -4

3. Dr. Oz (Sony) 2.0 -5%

3. Maury (NBCU) 2.0 NC

5. Ellen (WBDTD) 1.9 -21%

6. Katie (Disney-ABC) 1.6 NC

7. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.3 NC

8. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.2 -14%

8. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.2 -8%

8. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.2 -8%

8. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.2 -8%

8. The Doctors (CTD) 1.2 NC

13. Trisha (NBCU) 0.5 NC

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

FRESHMEN TALKERS

1. Katie (Disney-ABC) 1.6 NC

2. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.2 -14%

3. Trisha (NBCU) 0.5 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.3 NC

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.6 -4%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.8 NC

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.6 NC

5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.4 NC

6. OMG Insider (CTD) 1.3 -7%

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 0.9 -10%

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 6.4 -3%

2. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.7 -6%

3. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.3 NC

4. Judge Alex (Twentieth) 1.2 NC

4. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.2 NC

6. America’s Court with Judge Ross (Entertainment Studios) 0.7 NC

7. Justice for All with Judge Cristina Perez (Entertainment Studios) 0.4 NC

8. We the People with Gloria Allred (Entertainment Studios) 0.2 NC

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 5.6** -5%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 5.3** -2%

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 4.3 -4%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 2.3 NC

5. Baggage (GSN) 0.9 -18%

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 6.3 -2%

2. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 4.3 NC

3. Family Guy (Twentieth) 3.1 NC

4. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 2.4 +4%

5. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 2.1 -5%

6. Seinfeld (Sony) 2.0 -5%

7. Friends (WBDTD) 1.9 -10%

8. Everybody Loves Raymond (CTD) 1.6** -16%

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 3.8 +3%

2. Law & Order (NBCU) 2.6 -4%

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

4. Criminal Minds (CTD) 2.2 -4%

5. House (NBCU) 2.1 -5%

5. CSI: Miami (CTD) 2.1 NC