Maya Angelou Coverage Boosts Magazines

Magazines had the hot hand in the week ending June 15, fueled by coverage of the numerous tributes — including those of Oprah, Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton — to the late civil rights icon and poet Maya Angelou. In fact, every one of the top six magazines, except TMZ, saw its ratings jump from the prior session.

Leader Entertainment Tonight grew 10% to its highest Nielsens in six weeks. Inside Edition picked up 8%; Access Hollywood spiked 7%; Extra had the category’s largest, surging 15% to a four-week high, and posting the biggest gains over last year at this time. Also moving up was The Insider, which spurted 8%.

Elsewhere in access, Wheel of Fortune fell to a new season low, but still finished ahead of challenger Jeopardy in another close weekly game show race. Jeopardy snapped Wheel’s nearly 10-year winning streak two weeks ago and the two shows finished in a dead heat in the session ending June 8.

In daytime, Live with Kelly & Michael, which is posting its best ratings in seven years this season, climbed to the top of the talk show ranks, passing usual leader Dr. Phil, which was in reruns all week. Compared to last year, Live was up 13%.

Dr. Phil was next in line, followed by third-place Ellen, which dropped to a new season low for the second straight week. Maury moved up 6% and landed just behind Ellen, while Dr. Oz held steady and rounded out the top five.

Wendy Williams posted a 7% increase from the prior week and was also up 15% from a year ago.

Judge Judy was the No. 1 show in syndication for the 40^th time in the past 43 weeks, winning by its widest margin ever.

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

• Live with Kelly & Michael (1.4, +8% from the week before)
• Dr. Phil (1.2, -8%), tied with Ellen (1.2, -8%)
• Maury (1.1, -9%), tied with Wendy Williams (1.1, +10%)
• Dr. Oz (1.0, unchanged)
• Steve Wilkos (0.8, -11%)
• Rachael Ray (0.7, unchanged), tied with Steve Harvey (0.7, 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) 2.7 +4%

2. Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.5 -11%

3. Ellen (WBDTD) 2.1** -5%

4. Maury (NBCU) 1.9 +6%

5. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.7 NC

6. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.5 -6%

6. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.5 +7%

8. Katie (Disney-ABC) 1.3 -7%

8. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.3 NC

10. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.1 -8%

10. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.1 NC

12. Queen Latifah (Sony) 1.0 NC

12. The Doctors (CTD) 1.0 NC

14. Bethenny (WBDTD) 0.6 NC

14. Arsenio (CTD) 0.6 +20%

14. The Test (CTD) 0.6 +20%

17. Trisha (NBCU) 0.4** -20%

18. The Better Show (Meredith) 0.2 NC

FRESHMEN TALKERS

1. Queen Latifah (Sony) 1.0 NC

2. Bethenny (WBDTD) 0.6 NC

3. Arsenio (CTD) 0.6 +20%

3. The Test (CTD) 0.6 +20%

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 7.1 NC

2. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.9 +12%

3. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.4 +8%

3. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.4 +8%

5. Judge Alex (Twentieth) 1.3 NC

6. Paternity Court (Orion Television) 1.0 +11%

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.3 +10%

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.8 +8%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.8 NC

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.5 +7%

4. Extra (WBDTD) 1.5 +15%

6. The Insider (CTD) 1.3 +8%

7. Right This Minute (MGM) 1.0 NC

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 1.0 NC

9. America Now (Trifecta) 0.3 NC

9. OK! TV (Trifecta) 0.3 NC

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 6.0** -2%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 5.8 -5%

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 4.6 -2%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 2.0 +11%

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 5.7 -2%

2. Modern Family (Twentieth) 3.7** -10%

3. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 3.2 -3%

4. Family Guy (Twentieth) 2.6 -10%

5. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 2.0 +5%

6. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.9 NC

6. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 1.9 +6%

8. Friends (WBDTD) 1.8 +13%

9. The Middle (WBDTD) 1.6 NC

9. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 1.6 NC

11. Rules of Engagement (Sony) 1.3 NC

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 3.5 -3%

2. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU) 3.3 +27%

3. House (NBCU) 2.6 -4%

4. Castle (Disney-ABC) 2.5 +4%

5. CSI: Miami (CTD) 2.1 +11%

6. Criminal Minds (CTD) 2.0 -9%