Labor Day Week Shows Talkers Some Love

Talk shows were working the hardest as Labor Day kicked off the week ending Sept 8.

Dr. Phil and Live with Kelly and Michael, which premiered its new season on Labor Day with a taped show, tied for the lead. Phil, which didn’t begin its new season until Sept. 9, and Live, both surged from the week before.

Dr. Oz, despite being in repeats all week, jumped up into a tie for third place with Maury.

Also in reruns, Katie scored its best ratings in four weeks, and The Doctors hit its highest numbers since the week of July 29. Wendy, also in repeats, was even with the previous week, but up 13% from a year ago.

Other dayparts were fairly quiet due in part to preemptions for NFL football and US Open tennis and golf. For example, almost every access show was down from the previous week, although Extra’s companion Extra Weekend bucked the downtrend, surging 25% and matching its season high.

Courtroom champ Judge Judy was the top-rated show in first-run syndication for the 19^th straight week.

In the metered markets yesterday, daytime talker Queen Latifah premiered with a 1.7 rating/5 share primary run average, which was 70% higher than the first full week of fellow daytime newcomer Bethenny. Latifah’s first day was also the second highest premiere for a daytime talker since Dr. Oz opened in 2009.

Meanwhile Bethenny, which premiered Sept. 9, averaged a 1.0/3 for its first week, tumbling 23% from its lead-ins and dropping 17% from its year-ago time periods.

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

• Dr. Phil (1.5, up 15% from the week before )

• Live with Kelly and Michael (1.3, up 8%), tied with Maury (1.3, unchanged)

• Dr. Oz (1.1, +10% )
• Ellen (1.0, -9% )

• Steve Wilkos (0.9, +13% )

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) 2.5 +4%

1. Live with Kelly and Michael (Disney-ABC) 2.5 +9%

3. Maury (NBCU) 1.9 -5%

3. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.9 +6%

5. Ellen (WBDTD) 1.6 -6%

5. Katie (Disney-ABC) 1.6 +7%

7. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.3 NC

8. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.2 -8%

8. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.2 NC

8. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.2 NC

8. The Doctors (CTD) 1.2 +9%

12. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 0.9 NC

13. Trisha (NBCU) 0.4 NC

14. The Better Show (Meredith) 0.2 NC

FRESHMEN TALKERS

1. Katie (Disney-ABC) 2.6 +7%

2. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.2 NC

3. Trisha (NBCU) 0.4 NC

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 6.2 -2%

2. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.6 NC

3. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.4 NC

4. Judge Alex (Twentieth) 1.3 +8%

4. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.3 +8%

6. America’s Court with Judge Ross (Entertainment Studios) 0.6 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 -33%

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.3 -3%

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.5 -7%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.8 -10%

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.4 -18%

4. Extra (WBDTD) 1.4 -7%

6. OMG Insider (CTD) 1.2 -8%

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 0.9 NC

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 5.5 -7%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 4.8 -6%

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 4.4 +2%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 2.1 -9%

5. Baggage (GSN) 0.9 -18%

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 5.9 -6%

2. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 4.2 +5%

3. Family Guy (Twentieth) 3.4 -6%

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 -5%

7. Everybody Loves Raymond (CTD) 1.9 +6%

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 3.6 -3%

2. Law & Order (NBCU) 2.5 -7%

2. House (NBCU) 2.5 +19%

4. Criminal Minds (CTD) 2.0 -17%

4. Castle (Disney-ABC) 2.0 +5%

6. CSI Miami (CTD) 1.8 -22%

6. The Closer (WBDTD) 1.8 +6%