No Christmas Joy For Magazine Shows

Live with Kelly and Michael surged to the top of the talk shows, but most other syndicated programs went into the traditional Christmas holiday tailspin in the week ending Dec. 29.

Live, which aired taped and repackaged shows all week, was one of just four talkers to resist the downturn and finished in first place by its widest margin since 2012, with growth both week to week and year to year.

Maury, Rachael Ray and The Doctors were the only others in the category able to improve from the prior session as both Ellen — with three repeats during the week — and Dr. Phil — completely in reruns — declined by double digits. In terms of demos, Live was tops among women 25-54, while Maury led all talkers among both women 18-49 and women 18-34.

The recently renewed Queen Latifah held steady and continued to rule the talk rookies, while fellow newcomer Bethenny was the No. 1 show among women 18-34 in eight of the top 20 markets last week.

In access, virtually all of the top-tier shows declined sharply, with many hitting their lowest levels of the season.

In off-net syndication, all of the newcomers declined, except Community, which resumed its network run last week on NBC. Modern Family continued to lead the freshmen sitcoms, despite slipping by double digits.

In the metered markets, Serch, which began a four-week test run this Monday, averaged a 0.9 rating/2 share in households and a 0.6/3 among women 25-54 after three days on eight Tribune stations, improving 150% in Los Angeles and 14% in New York over its stations’ year-ago time period performances.

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

• Live with Kelly and Michael (1.7, +6% from the week before)
• Ellen (1.5, -17%)
• Maury (1.4, -7%)
• Dr. Phil (1.2, -20% )
• Dr. Oz (1.0, +11%)
• Rachael Ray (0.9, +13%), tied with Steve Harvey (0.9, -18%) and Steve Wilkos (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 and Michael (Disney-ABC) 3.0 +7%

2. Ellen (WBDTD) 2.4 -20%

3. Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.3** -18%

4. Maury (NBCU) 2.2 +5%

5. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.8 -5%

6. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.6 -11%

6. Katie (Disney-ABC) 1.6 -6%

8. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.5 +7%

9. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.4 NC

10. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.3 NC

11. The Doctors (CTD) 1.2 +9%

12. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.0** -23%

13. Queen Latifah (Sony) 1.0 NC

14. Bethenny (WBDTD) 0.8 NC

15. Arsenio (CTD) 0.6 -14%

15. The Test (CTD) 0.6 NC

17. Trisha (NBCU) 0.5 -17%

18. The Better Show (Meredith) 0.2 NC

FRESHMEN TALKERS

1. Queen Latifah (Sony) 1.0 NC

2. Bethenny (WBDTD) 0.8 NC

3. Arsenio (CTD) 0.6 -14%

3. The Test (CTD) 0.6 NC

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 6.1** -14%

2. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.7 NC

3. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.6 -6%

3. Judge Alex (Twentieth) 1.6 NC

3. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.6 NC

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

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 2.8** -22%

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.6** -13%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.5** -21%

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.3** -28%

4. Extra (WBDTD) 1.3** -19%

6. OMG! Insider (CTD) 1.1** -21%

7. Right This Minute (MGM) 0.9 -18%

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 0.9 NC

9. America Now (Trifecta) 0.3 NC

10. OK! TV (Trifecta) 0.2 NC

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 6.1 -13%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 5.6 -13%

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 4.9 -6%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.9** -10%

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 5.7 -11%

2. Modern Family (Twentieth) 4.5 -12%

3. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 3.2** -18%

4. Family Guy (Twentieth) 2.9 -6%

5. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 2.2 +5%

6. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 2.0 -5%

7. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.9 NC

8. Friends (WBDTD) 1.8 NC

8. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 1.8 +6%

10. Rules of Engagement (Sony) 1.4 -13%

11. The Middle (WBDTD) 1.3 -7%

12. Community (Sony) 0.4 NC

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

2. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU) 4.2 -25%

3. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 2.4** -37%

1. House (NBCU) 4.4* +69%

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

5. Criminal Minds (CTD) 2.1 +5%

6. CSI: Miami (CTD) 2.0 +5%