Talkers The Talk Of Syndication

Ellen had the hot hand in the week ending June 16, jumping into a three-way tie for first place among the talk shows, along with Live with Kelly and Michael and the season’s top talker, Dr. Phil, which was in reruns all week.

Compared to last year at this time, Ellen’s ratings have improved by 26%, which was the biggest year-over-year increase of any talk show.

Other takers making significant week-to-week gains were Maury, Steve Wilkos, Jerry Springer, Rachael Ray, Wendy Williams and The Better Show.

Dr. Oz, which was just renewed out to 2017, held steady despite heavy preemptions for coverage of the US Open golf tournament, the NHL Stanley Cup finals, French Open tennis and the George Zimmerman murder trial, which also severely affected the magazine shows.

In fact, the only established magazine strip to score an advance was OMG Insider, although the weekly Extra Weekend spurted 17% and the new Dish Nation surged 11%.

At the top of the syndication chart, Judge Judy made it seven weeks in a row as the highest-rated program in first run and grew 6% from last year.

The week’s top nationally rated talk shows in the women 25-54 demo were; Ellen (1.5 demo rating, down 6% from the week before); Live with Kelly and Michael (1.4, -7%); Dr. Phil (1.3, -13%), tied with Maury (1.3 +8%); Dr. Oz (1.2, unchanged); Wendy Williams (0.9, unchanged); and newcomer Katie (0.8, unchanged), tied with fellow rookie Steve Harvey (0.8, -11%).

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) 2.4 -4%

1. Live with Kelly and Michael (Disney-ABC) 2.4 -4%

1. Ellen (WBDTD) 2.4 +9%

4. Dr. Oz (Sony) 2.1 NC

5. Maury (NBCU) 2.0 +11%

6. Katie (Disney-ABC) 1.6 NC

7. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.4 NC

8. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.3 +8%

8. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.3 +8%

8. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.3 +8%

8. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.3 +8%

12. The Doctors (CTD) 1.2 NC

13. Trisha (NBCU) 0.5 NC

14. The Better Show (Meredith) 0.2 +100%

FRESHMEN TALKERS

1. Katie (Disney-ABC) 1.6 NC

2. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.4 NC

3. Trisha (NBCU) 0.5 NC

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.3 NC

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.7 -4%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.8 -5%

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.6 NC

5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.4 -7%

5. OMG Insider (CTD) 1.4 +8%

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 1.0 +11%

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 6.6 NC

2. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.8 +6%

3. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.3 -7%

4. Judge Alex (Twentieth) 1.2 NC

4. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.2 NC

6. America’s Court with Judge Ross (Entertainment Studios) 0.7 NC

7. Justice for All with Judge Cristina Perez (Entertainment Studios) 0.4 -20%

8. We the People with Gloria Allred (Entertainment Studios) 0.2 -33%

GAME SHOWS

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 5.9** -3%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 5.4 -2%

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 3.4 +7%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 2.3 +10%

5. Baggage (GSN) 1.1 +22%

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 6.4 NC

2. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 4.3 NC

3. Family Guy (Twentieth) 3.1** -3%

4. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 2.3 -4%

5. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 2.2 NC

6. Friends (WBDTD) 2.1 +5%

6. Seinfeld (Sony) 2.1 +5%

8. Everybody Loves Raymond (CTD) 2.9 +12%

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 3.7 -3%

2. Law & Order (NBCU) 2.7 -7%

3. Castle (Disney-ABC) 2.4 -8%

4. Criminal Minds (CTD) 2.3 -8%

5. House (NBCU) 2.2 -8%

6. CSI: Miami (CTD) 2.1 -5%