Led By ‘Phil,’ Talkers Turn In Strong Numbers

Talk shows, led by Dr. Phil, turned in amazingly strong performances in the session ended Dec. 10, despite significant preemptions in No. 2 market Los Angeles and other California cities for coverage of thousands of firefighters battling the devastating blazes during the week.

Phil rose 3% from the previous frame to a three-week high 3.4 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating, and easily topped the talkers for the 66^th consecutive session.

Others in the genre moving up included:

• Wendy Williams, which climbed 8% to a 1.4.

• Rachael Ray, which rallied 8% to a 1.3.

• Jerry Springer and Dr. Oz, which both spiked 9% to a 1.2.

• True crime specialist Crime Watch Daily, which delivered the largest percentage increase, strengthening 11% to a four-week high 1.0.

Also of note, Steve was the only one of the top six to maintain its season high, holding steady at a 1.4, tying Wendy and Maury for fourth place.

Magazines were again solid with all of the top five at previous or new season-high levels covering the aftermath of the Matt Lauer firing.

Entertainment Tonight and sister show Inside Edition tied for the third time in five weeks, with both hitting a first-place 3.3. ET remained at its 37-week high for a second week, while Edition added 3% to a new season best.

TMZ, Access Hollywood and Extra all held steady at season-high levels of 1.5, 1.4 and 1.3, respectively.

Elsewhere, Daily Mail TV surged 20% to a new series high 0.6 in the key women 25-54 demo and was the top-ranked first-run syndication newcomer for the 12^th week in a row with a steady 1.0 and nearly 1.5 million viewers per day despite getting bumped for wildfire news in some markets.

Page Six TV was also sharp, despite preemptions, staying for a second week at its series high 0.8, which was 60% higher than No. 3 rookie Funny You Should Ask at a steady 0.5.

Judge Judy topped all shows for the 16^th time in 17 weeks, maintaining a syndication-best 7.2 and attraction 10.4 million viewers each day. Judy also extended its winning streak among court shows to 1,107 weeks.

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

• Dr. Phil (1.5, +7% from the week before)
• Ellen DeGeneres (1.2, unchanged)
• Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.1, unchanged)
• Wendy Williams (0.9, unchanged), tied with Maury (0.9, +13%)
• Steve (0.7, unchanged), tied with Steve Wilkos (0.7, unchanged) and Jerry Springer (0.7, +17%)

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) 3.4 +3%

2. Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) 2.5 NC

3. Live with Kelly and Ryan (Disney-ABC) 2.3 NC

4. Steve (NBCU) 1.4 NC

4. Maury (NBCU) 1.4 NC

4. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.4 +8%

7. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.3 +8%

8. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.2 +9%

8. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.2 +9%

10. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.1 NC

11. Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen (WBDTD) 1.0 +11%

12. Harry (NBCU) 0.9 NC

13. The Real (WBDTD) 0.8 NC

13. The Doctors (CTD) 0.8 NC

FIRST-RUN ROOKIE SHOWS

1. Daily Mail TV (CTD) 1.0 NC

2. Page Six TV (20th Television) 0.8 NC

3. Funny You Should Ask (Entertainment Studios) 0.5 NC

4. Pickler & Ben (Disney-ABC) 0.3 NC

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 7.2 NC

2. Hot Bench (CTD) 2.3 -4%

3. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.7 +6%

4. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.2 NC

5. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 0.9 NC

6. Judge Faith (Trifecta) 0.6 NC

GAME SHOWS

1. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 6.7 NC

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 6.6 +3%

3. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 6.5* +3%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.7 NC

INTERNET VIDEO

1. Right This Minute (Disney-ABC) 1.6* +7%

OFF-NET TRUE CRIME

1. Dateline M-F (NBCU) 1.3 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.3 NC

1. Inside Edition (CTD) 3.3* +3%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.5 NC

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.4 NC

5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.3 NC

6. Celebrity Page (Trifecta) 0.3 NC

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 5.2 +4%

2. Modern Family (Twentieth) 2.6 +4%

3. The Goldbergs (Sony) 1.7 +6%

3. Last Man Standing (Twentieth) 1.7* +6%

3. Family Guy (Twentieth) 1.7 NC

6. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 1.6 NC

6. Mike and Molly (WBDTD) 1.6 NC

8. Two Broke Girls (WBDTD) 1.3 NC

9. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.2* +9%

10. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 1.1 NC

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Dateline Weekly (NBCU) 3.8* +6%

2. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 3.1 -6%

3. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU) 1.8 +6%

3. American Ninja Warrior (NBCU) 1.8 +6%

5. Blue Bloods (CTD) 1.7 -6%

6. CSI Miami (CTD) 1.4 NC