Syndies
saw several new season highs in the week ending Sunday, Oct. 31, even though
many shows faced such scares as World Series competition, preemptions due to
political coverage, interruptions for a speech by President Obama, and
continued black-outs due to the dispute between Fox and Cablevision over
retransmission-consent fees.
Talkers
were strong, with four shows improving over the prior week and three scoring
new season highs as the November sweep, which runs from Oct. 28 through Nov.
24, kicked in.
CBS
Television Distribution's Oprah
remained daytime's top talker, holding steady at a 5.2. Oprah also won its 600th week
in a row, in the week ending Oct. 31.
CTD's Dr. Phil also got good news, jumping 4%
from the prior week to a 2.7 and a season high, the show's best performance in
23 weeks. Dr. Phil remains solidly in
second place, which has been the show's position for every sweep for all eight
seasons that Dr. Phil has been on the
air.
Also,
earning personal season bests were Disney-ABC's Live with Regis and Kelly, up 8% to a 2.6, and Warner Bros.' Ellen Degeneres, up 10% to a 2.2. Debmar-Mercury's
Wendy Williams also rebounded 10% to
a 1.1, regaining the prior week's loss, but remaining in last place among the
talkers.
Two
talkers declined: Sony's Dr. Oz fell
4% to a 2.2 and tied Ellen for fourth
place, while NBC Universal's Steve Wilkos
dropped 8% to a new season-low 1.2.
Besides Oprah, four talk shows were flat: NBCU's
Maury at a 2.0, CTD's The Doctors at a 1.7, CTD's Rachael Ray at a 1.6, and NBCU's Jerry Springer at a 1.3.
CTD's Swift Justice with Nancy Grace lost its
New York audience for a second week, after again being blacked out in more than
40% of the market due to the Fox-Cablevision dispute. The rookie first-run
leader slipped 8% to a new season-low 1.2.
Meanwhile,
Sony's Nate Berkus regained 11% to a
1.0, recovering the previous week's loss. Twentieth's Don't Forget the Lyrics, Litton's Judge Karen's Court and Entertainment Studios'America's Court with Judge Ross all were flat at a 0.9, 0.6 and
0.4, respectively.
Among
the off-net and off-able rookies, Twentieth's How I Met Your Mother rallied 5% to match its season-high 2.3. Warner
Bros.' The New Adventures of Old
Christine was unchanged at a 1.3, tying Debmar-Mercury's Meet the Browns, which climbed 8%. Disney-ABC's
one-hour Ugly Betty remained at a
0.8. Debmar-Mercury's E! True Hollywood
Story skidded 13% to a 0.7, landing in a three-way tie with Warner Bros.' Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm, both of which were unchanged. NBCU's off-Bravo
Real Housewives was steady at a 0.5.
Elsewhere
in daytime, CTD's leader, Judge Judy,
dipped 2% to a 4.2. In second place, CTD's Judge
Joe Brown grew 5% to a 2.0, ending its multi-week tie with Warner Bros.' People Court, which was flat at a 1.9. Warner
Bros.' Judge Mathis added 6% to a
1.7. Twentieth's Divorce Court
advanced 8% to a 1.3. Twentieth's Judge
Alex slid 8% to a 1.2, while Warner Bros.' Judge Jeanine Pirro improved 11% to a 1.0, although it remained in
last place.
CTD's Entertainment Tonight, which announced
on Monday that Nancy O'Dell would replace longtime anchor Mary Hart next fall, remained
atop the magazines even though it was flat at a 3.9. CTD's Inside Edition improved 4% to a 2.9 for second place. CTD's The Insider and NBCU's Access Hollywood remained in lockstep
for the fifth consecutive week, with each show remaining at a 1.8. Warner
Bros.' TMZ regained most of the
previous week's loss with a 13% gain to a 1.7. Warner Bros.' Extra, which did not air in Boston due
to a political debate on Oct. 25, was unchanged at a 1.6. The show's weekend
version, Extra Weekend, continued its
winning streak, gaining 38% from last year to a 1.1.
Games
had a strong week, with syndication's top two shows, CTD's Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!,
each hitting new season highs. Wheel tacked
on 6% to a 6.7, while Jeopardy!
inched up 4% to a 5.6. Disney-ABC's Who
Wants to be a Millionaire dipped 4% to a 2.2. Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud climbed 7% to also hit a new
season-high 1.6. Twentieth's sophomore, Are
You Smarter than a Fifth Grader, trailed the veteran games at an unchanged
0.9.
Among
the veteran off-net sitcoms, NBCU's The
Office, which had seen its numbers boosted over the past couple of weeks
when baseball aired on TBS, dropped back down to earth, losing 50% of its rating
and landing at a new season-low 2.1.
Warner
Bros.' leader, Two and a Half Men,
increased 2% to a 5.3. Twentieth's Family
Guy opened up its second-place margin, gaining 3% to a new season-high 3.1.
CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond improved
4% to a 2.7. Warner Bros.' My Wife and
Kids was stable at a 2.6. Warner Bros.' George
Lopez picked up 4% to a 2.4. Sony's Seinfeld strove ahead 5% to a 2.3,
while Twentieth's King of the Hill
was flat at a 2.2.
