Good Start To 2015 For Entertainment Mags

Ratings for the traditional entertainment magazines started the new year with a bang, recovering from their Christmas week declines in the session ending Jan. 4.

Leader Entertainment Tonight surged 24% to a 3.1; Access Hollywood leaped 15% to a 1.5; Extra strengthened 8% to a 1.4 despite being preempted 50 times for special programming on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day; while The Insider climbed 9% to a 1.2.

The mags also scored with coverage of this past Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards. Metered matket primary run averages on Monday included a top-rated 3.9 rating/6 share for ET, up 25% from its four-week average; Access Hollywood clocked a 2.5/5 average, up 31% and tops among magazines in Los Angeles with a 2.8/4, tied with Extra’s 2.8.4.

Meanwhile, Extra grew 22 to a 2.2/4 metered market average, which included a 3.9/6 first-place among all access magazines in New York, while The Insider improved 15% to a 1.5/3 average.

Back in the national ratings, a giant gain was generated by rookie champion Hot Bench, which shot up 21% in households to a 1.7, and up 29% to a 0./9 among women 25-54, matching its highest ratings and demos of the season even though it was in reruns all week.

Among talk shows, Live with Kelly & Michael was No. 1 for the second straight week after clocking a 3.1. Dr. Phil, in reruns, was second with a 2.4, followed by a repeat week of Ellen DeGeneres at a 2.3.

Talkers with the biggest increases were: Steve Wilkos, up 7% to a 1.5; Jerry Springer, up 8% to a 1.4; and The Doctors, up 10% to a 1.1, even though all three strips aired mainly encore telecasts.

Judge Judy also scored a double-digit increase with an all-repeat week, jumping 13% to a 6.3 and first place by a wide margin among court shows.

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

• Live with Kelly & Michael (1.7 unchanged from the week before)
• Maury (1.3, -7%), tied with Ellen DeGeneres (1.3, +8%)
• Dr. Phil (1.2, +20%)
• Steve Harvey (1.0, +20%)
• Steve Wilkos (0.9, unchanged), tied with Rachael Ray (0.9, +12%) and Wendy Williams (0.9, 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) 3.2 -6

2. Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.4 NC

3. Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) 2.3 NC

4. Maury (NBCU) 2.0 NC

5. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.8 NC

5. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.5 +7%

5. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.5 -6%

8. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.4 NC

8. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.4 +8%

10. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.3 NC

11. The Doctors (CTD) 1.1 +10%

12. Queen Latifah (Sony) 1.0 NC

13. The Better Show (Meredith) 0.1 NC

ROOKIES

1. Hot Bench (CTD) 1.7 +21%

2. Celebrity Name Game (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 1.2 +9%

2. Meredith Vieira (NBCU) 1.1 NC

4. The Real (WBDTD) 0.9 -10%

5. Judge Faith (Trifecta) 0.8 +14%

INTERNET VIDEO

1. Right This Minute (MGM) 1.5 NC

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 6.3 +13%

2. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.7 +13%

3. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.6 NC

4. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.4 +8%

5. Paternity Court (Orion Television) 1.2 +9%

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.1 +24%

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.8 +17%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.8 +6%

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.5 +15%

5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.4 +8%

6. The Insider (CTD) 1.2 +9%

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 0.9 -10%

8. OK! TV (Trifecta) 0.2 -33%

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 6.4 +7%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 6.2 +3%

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 5.7 -2%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.8 +6%

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 5.5 +8%

2. Modern Family (Twentieth) 3.8 +6%

3. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 2.8 -7%

4. Family Guy (Twentieth) 2.3 -12%

4. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 2.3 -4%

4. Mike and Molly (WBDTD) 2.3 +10%

7. The Middle (WBDTD) 2.1* +110%

8. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.8 -10%

9. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 1.7 NC

10. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 1.5 NC

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU) 5.8* +57%

2. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 3.1 +11%

3. Blue Bloods (CTD) 2.3 -4%

4. Castle (Disney-ABC) 1.9 -5%

5. Scandal (Disney-ABC) 1.7 +6%

6. The Mentalist (WBDTD) 1.5 +7%

6. The Good Wife  (CTD) 1.5 -6

6. The Closer (WBDTD) 1.5 -6