The combination of two Universal talkers—Maury and The Jerry Springer Show—has improved time periods for stations in the top three markets, giving each of them an extra boost as the May sweeps period gets into full swing.
In New York, the combo has boosted ratings sweeps-to-date from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tribune's WPIX-TV by 32% year-to-year, according to Nielsen's overnight local household ratings through May 5.
At 10 a.m., Maury's 3.3 rating/11 share on WPIX-TV wins the hour. Competitors include Buena Vista's Wayne Brady, Warner Bros.' People's Court
and Twentieth's Texas Justice, as well as CBS soap The Guiding Light. Maury
also improves on its lead-in, Warner Bros.' Jenny Jones, which ranks third in its time period with a 2.4/8.
In the next hour, Jerry's performance improves on Maury's, scoring 3.5/12. That gives the show second place vs. CBS's The Price Is Right
and beats ABC's The View, NBC Enterprises' The John Walsh Show
and the combination of Twentieth's Divorce Court
and news on Fox-owned WNYW(TV).
A second run of Maury
at noon earns the top rating among all WPIX-TV's strips, 3.7/12. At 1 p.m., a second run of Jerry
beats last year's combination of King World's Inside Edition
and Warner Bros.'Change of Heart
by nearly a full rating point.
WPIX-TV Vice President and General Manager Betty Ellen Berlamino attributes the performance to the consistency of both the shows. While NBC and Fox have moved around their morning schedules, Maury
has been on the air in New York at 10 a.m. for years.
In Los Angeles, the combo of Maury
and Jerry
from 9 to 11 a.m. on Tribune's KTLA-TV has taken the station from last year's sixth place into a second-place tie with Fox-owned KTTV(TV) with a 2.0/7. Only ABC-owned KABC-TV, airing Buena Vista's Live With Regis and Kelly
and The View, beats KTLA-TV, whose ratings in the two-hour block have doubled year-to-year.
In Chicago, Jerry wins second place on Fox-owned WFLD-TV at 11 a.m. with a 3.1 rating and has helped boost ratings for the station's noon news by 59%. On Tribune-owned WGN-TV, Maury has strengthened the 3 p.m. time period year-to-year by more than 70%, even though lead-in Jenny Jones has slipped 2% at 2 p.m. Maury ties King World's Dr. Phil on NBC-owned WMAQ-TV for second place in the time period.
