Very Good Week For ‘Wendy’; ‘Megyn’ Dips

While several nationally syndicated shows premiered in the session ending Sept. 24, the focus was on the first week of Megyn Kelly Today, the NBC network’s challenge to the syndicated Live with Kelly and Ryan.

Megyn, which began Sept. 15, was considerably outperformed by Live in the nation’s 56 biggest markets. For the week, Live raced to a 2.3 rating/8 share weighted metered market average, topping Megan’s 1.9/7 by 21%.

Among women 25-54, Live was 43% higher with a 1.0/8 compared to Megan’s 0.7/6. The two shows compete head-to head in most metered cities, including all of the 10 largest markets.

The strongest of the newcomers to syndication, which earned their first national ratings in the week ending Sept. 24 were Daily Mail TV and Page Six TV. Daily Mail came flying out of the gate and led the freshman field in the early going with the highest first week of any access magazine since TMZ debuted in 2007. It opened with a 0.9 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen rating and a 0.5 in the key women 25-54 demo.

Page Six TV, the other powerful magazine, also started fast, finishing a close second with a 0.7 in households and a 0.4 in the demo. In addition, Day 1 of Page Six had the highest metered market numbers of any magazine premiere in 10 years.

And in the overnights for the following week ending Oct. 1, Page Six scored triple-digit increases over Week 1 in Indianapolis, Phoenix and San Antonio among other markets and tied Daily Mail for the week in both households and key demos.

Funny You Should Ask, a new game show, posted a 0.5 national rating in its second week, up 25% from its debut. Pickler & Ben, a new talker, was further back, opening with a 0.3 in the national numbers.

Among the veterans in the week ending Sept. 24, Dr. Phil continued to roll, finishing first in the talk show race for the 55^th week in a row with a 3.3, holding steady with its Season 16 premier in the prior frame. Ellen DeGeneres added 5% to a 2.2 and moved up to second place, just ahead of usual No. 2 Live with Kelly and Ryan, which remained at a 2.1 despite being preempted in numerous markets by the President Trump’s Sept. 19 U.N. speech on North Korea.

Meanwhile, Wendy Williams kicked off its 10^th season with a 1.4, up 40% over the prior week’s reruns.

Compared to last year, the only show in the talk genre moving up was Crime Watch Daily, which saw an 11% annual increase to a 1.0. However, Steve, the new version of Steve Harvey’s talk show, clocked a 1.3 and grew sharply over last year in quite a few metered markets including 63% in Greensboro, N.C.; 53% in Fort Myers, Fla.; and 50% in Denver.

Back in the national ratings, Extra was the only one of the six veteran magazines on the upswing, growing 9% to a 17-week high 1.2. Entertainment Tonight continued to lead the group with a steady 3.0.

At the top of the chart, Judge Judy went into the stratosphere with 10.4 million daily viewers, hitting a 7.3 — its highest rating in 32 weeks — and was the No. 1 show in syndication for the sixth straight week.

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

• Dr. Phil (1.3, -7% from the week before)
• Ellen DeGeneres (1.1, unchanged)
• Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.0, unchanged)
• Maury (0.9, unchanged), tied with Wendy Williams (0.9, +50%)
• Steve Wilkos (0.8, 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. Dr. Phil (CTD) 3.3 NC

2. Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) 2.2 +5%

3. Live with Kelly and Ryan (Disney-ABC) 2.1 NC

4. Maury (NBCU) 1.5 NC

5. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.4 +40%

6. Steve (NBCU) 1.3 NC

7. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.2 NC

7. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.2 NC

9. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.1 +10%

10. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.1 NC

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

12. Harry (NBCU) 0.9 NC

13. The Real (WBDTD) 0.8 +14%

13. The Doctors (CTD) 0.8 NC

FIRST-RUN ROOKIE SHOWS

1. Daily Mail TV (CTD) 0.9 NA

2. Page Six TV (20the Television 0.7 NA

3. Funny You Should Ask (Entertainment Studios) 0.5 +25%

4. Pickler & Ben (Disney-ABC) 0.3 NA

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 7.3 +3%

2. Hot Bench (CTD) 2.4 +4%

3. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.6 -6%

4. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.2 NC

5. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 0.9 NC

6. Judge Faith (Trifecta) 0.6 -14%

GAME SHOWS

1. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury/FMNA) 6.1 NC

2. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 5.8 +5%

2. Jeopardy (CTD) 5.8 +5%

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.6 NC

INTERNET VIDEO

1. Right This Minute (Disney-ABC) 1.4 -7%

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.0 NC

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.9 NC

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1,4 NC

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.3 NC

5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.2 +9%

6. Celebrity Page (Trifecta) 0.2 NC

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 4.5 NC

2. Modern Family (Twentieth) 2.4 -4%

3. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 1.9 NC

4. Family Guy (Twentieth) 1.7 NC

4. The Goldbergs (Sony) 1.7 NA

6. Last Man Standing (Twentieth) 1.4 -7%

6. Mike and Molly (WBDTD) 1.4 NC

8. Two Broke Girls (WBDTD) 1.2 -8%

9. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.1 NC

9. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 1.1 -8%

11. The Middle (WBDTD)

12. King of the Hill (Twentieth)

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOUR DRAMAS

1. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 4.0 -5%

2. American Ninja Warrior (NBCU) 1.8 -5%

3. Blue Bloods (CTD) 1.7 -6%

4. CSI Miami (CTD) 1.2 -20%

5. Castle (Disney-ABC) 1.1 -8%

5. Major Crimes (WBDTD) 1.1 NC