‘Wheel,’ ‘Jeopardy’ Tie For Top Game Honors

Jeopardy fell back in the session ending June 8 and landed in a tie with Wheel of Fortune, one week after dethroning the usually dominant game show kingpin for the first time in nearly a decade. However, Judge Judy widened its lead over both shows — and every other strip in syndication — easily finishing first overall for the 39^th time in the past 42 weeks.

Elsewhere, Ellen and the already canceled Arsenio Hall both hit new season lows and most other shows went sideways or lower thanks to declining PUT levels and preemptions for French Open tennis coverage.

On the positive side, Dr. Phil topped the talk shows and grew 12% from last year at this time despite airing almost all repeats. Live with Kelly & Michael, the No. 2 talker, also rose from last year, improving by 4%.

Others in the chat pack showing sharp year-to-year gains were: Wendy Williams, which advanced 17% (and was up the same percentage from the prior week as well); Steve Harvey, which surged 14%; and Steve Wilkos, which increased 8%.

Most magazine strips were little changed in what was a quiet week for major entertainment news, although the weekly Extra Weekend spiked 17%.

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

• Live with Kelly & Michael (1.3, -13% from the week before), tied with Ellen (1.3, -13%) and Dr. Phil (1.3, -7%)
• Maury (1.2, -8%)
• Dr. Oz (1.0, unchanged), tied with Wendy Williams (1.0, +25%)
• Steve Wilkos (0.9, unchanged)
• 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. Dr. Phil (CTD) 2.8 NC

2. Live with Kelly & Michael (Disney-ABC) 2.6 -4%

3. Ellen (WBDTD) 2.2** -12%

4. Maury (NBCU) 1.8 -10%

5. Dr. Oz (Sony) 1.7 NC

6. Steve Harvey (NBCU) 1.6 +7%

7. Katie (Disney-ABC) 1.4 NC

7. Wendy Williams (Debmar-Mercury) 1.4 +17%

9. Steve Wilkos (NBCU) 1.3 NC

10. Rachael Ray (CTD) 1.2 NC

11. Jerry Springer (NBCU) 1.1 -8%

12. Queen Latifah (Sony) 1.0 -9%

12. The Doctors (CTD) 1.0 NC

14. Bethenny (WBDTD) 0.6 NC

15. Arsenio (CTD) 0.5** -17%

15. The Test (CTD) 0.5 -17%

15. Trisha (NBCU) 0.5 NC

18. The Better Show (Meredith) 0.2 NC

FRESHMEN TALKERS

1. Queen Latifah (Sony) 1.0 -9%

2. Bethenny (WBDTD) 0.6 NC

3. Arsenio (CTD) 0.5** -17%

3. The Test (CTD) 0.5 -17%

COURT SHOWS

1. Judge Judy (CTD) 7.1 +1%

2. People’s Court (WBDTD) 1.7 -11%

3. Divorce Court (Twentieth) 1.3 -13%

3. Judge Alex (Twentieth) 1.3 -7%

3. Judge Mathis (WBDTD) 1.3 -7%

6. Paternity Court (Orion Television) 0.9 -10%

MAGAZINE SHOWS

1. Entertainment Tonight (CTD) 3.0 -3%

2. Inside Edition (CTD) 2.6 -4%

3. TMZ (WBDTD) 1.8 NC

4. Access Hollywood (NBCU) 1.4 -7%

5. Extra (WBDTD) 1.3 NC

6. The Insider (CTD) 1.2 -8%

7. Right This Minute (MGM) 1.0 -9%

7. Dish Nation (Twentieth) 1.0 NC

9. America Now (Trifecta) 0.3 NC

9. OK! TV (Trifecta) 0.3 NC

GAME SHOWS

1. Jeopardy (CTD) 6.1 -5%

1. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) 6.1 NC

3. Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) 4.7 NC

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) 1.8** -5%

OFF-NET SITCOMS

1. Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) 5.8 +2%

2. Modern Family (Twentieth) 4.1 +2%

3. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) 3.3 +3%

4. Family Guy (Twentieth) 2.9 NC

5. Seinfeld (Sony) 1.9 +6%

5. How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) 1.9 +12%

7. The Cleveland Show (Twentieth) 1.8 NC

8. Friends (WBDTD) 1.6 NC

8. The Middle (WBDTD) 1.6 NC

8. King of the Hill (Twentieth) 1.6 +7%

11. Rules of Engagement (Sony) 1.3 -7%

OFF-NET WEEKLY HOURS

1. Law & Order: SVU (NBCU) 3.6 -5%

2. House (NBCU) 2.7 -13%

3. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBCU) 2.6 -21%

4. Castle (Disney-ABC) 2.4 +14%

5. Criminal Minds (CTD) 2.2 -8%

6. CSI: Miami (CTD) 1.9 -10%