Syndies Get Lumps Of Coal For Christmas

Live with Kelly & Michael bucked the downtrend in the traditionally low-rated Christmas week ending Dec. 27, 2015, and raced to the top of the talk show list by a wide margin. Kelly & Michael improved 3% to a first place 3.1 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating, matching its highest Nielsen number of the season.

Ellen DeGeneres, which was recently renewed out to 2020 on the 10 NBC-owned stations, was a distant second, fading 15% to a 2.2, while usual category leader Dr. Phil went into repeats and declined 32% to a new season low 2.1.

The only other talk show besides Kelly & Michael among the top six in the plus column was Rachael Ray, which cooked up an 8% advance to a 1.4, equaling its strongest rating of the season.

Among women 25-54, Kelly & Michael was easily best, jumping 13% to a 1.7. Ray also improved, spiking 17% to a 0.7 in the key demo.

Crime Watch Daily continued to be the top-rated newcomer to first-run syndicationfor the 15th consecutive week, remaining at its season high 0.9. Crazy Talk and FABLife were steady at a 0.7 and remained tied for second place.

Judge Judy, which had been the highest-rated strip in syndication overall for the past 26 weeks, went into reruns on all five days and lost 21% to a new season low 5.8, but was still up 4% from last year at this time.

Wheel of Fortune fell 11% to a 6.3, but won the week overall.

The top six magazines were down from the previous session. However, Entertainment Tonight maintained its category lead despite yielding 13% to a 2.7.

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

• Live with Kelly & Michael (1.7, +13% from the week before)
• Ellen DeGeneres (1.2, -14%)
• Maury (1.1, -8%)
• Dr. Phil (1.0, -33%)
• Steve Wilkos (0.8, unchanged), tied with Steve Harvey (0.8, -20%) and Wendy Williams (0.8, -33%)

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) 3.1 +3%

2. Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) 2.2 -15%

3. Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.1** -32%

4. Maury (NBCU) 1.7 NC

4. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.7 -11%

6. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.4 +8%

7. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.3 +8%

7. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.3 -13%

9. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.2** -25%

9. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.2 NC

11. The Real (WBDTD) 0.9 -18%

11. The Doctors (CTD) 0.9 NC

11. Meredith Vieira (NBCU) 0.9 NC

DAYTIME ROOKIE SHOWS

1. Crime Watch Daily (WBDTD) 0.9 NC

2. FABLife (Disney) 0.7 NC

2. Crazy Talk (NBCU) 0.7 NC

INTERNET VIDEO

1. Right This Minute (MGM) 1.0 NC

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 5.8** -21%

2. Hot Bench (CTD) 2.1 -9%

3. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.6 -11%

4. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.4 -7%

5. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.3 +8%

5. Paternity Court (Orion Television) 1.3 +8%

7. Judge Faith (Trifecta) 0.8 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 2.7 -13%

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.6 -10%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.6 -6%

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.4** -18%

5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.2** -14%

6. The Insider (CTD) 1.0 -17%

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 0.9 -10%

8. OK! TV (Trifecta) 0.2 NC

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 6.3 -11%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 5.8 -9%

2. Family Feud (FremantleMedia North America-Debmar-Mercury) 5.8 -11%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.2 NC

4. Celebrity Name Game (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 1.2 -8%

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 5.7 -7%

2. Modern Family (Twentieth) 3.0 -9%

3. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 2.7 -4%

4. Family Guy (Twentieth) 2.3 +5%

5. Mike and Molly (WBDTD) 2.0 -5%

6. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.8 NC

6. Two Broke Girls (WBDTD) 1.8** -10%

8. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 1.7 -6%

9. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 1.6 NC

10. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 1.3 NC

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOUR DRAMAS

1. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 4.3 -7%

2. The Closer (WBDTD) 3.0 -9%

3. Blue Bloods (CTD) 2.3 +10%

4. Castle (Disney-ABC) 1.8 NC

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

6. The Good Wife (CTD) 1.3 -13%

6. Rizzoli & Isles (WBDTD) 1.3 -13%