If only Access Hollywood could cover the Olympics every week.
Boosted by its live-from-London Olympics' coverage, NBCUniversal's entertainment magazine scored its best ratings in four-and-a-half years, hitting a season-high 2.7 live plus same day household rating, up 50% for the week and 69% from last year.
Access Hollywood benefited from airing on many NBC stations immediately preceding NBC's Olympic Zone pre-show and leading into NBC's primetime coverage of the first full week of the summer games, which included the Fierce Five competing in women's gymnastics as well as many winning swims by Olympic champions Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin.
Besides Entertainment Studios' America's Court, Access Hollywood was the only show that benefited from the Olympics. For nearly every other show, competing against the games was a non-starter.
CTD's magazine leader Entertainment
Tonight dropped 16% to a new season-low 3.1. CTD's Inside Edition fell 7% to a 2.7, giving Access Hollywood a rare tie for second place. Warner Bros.' TMZ declined 5% to a 1.8, but because
that show airs mostly in late-fringe on Fox-owned stations, it didn't take much
of a hit. CTD's The Insider decreased
13% to a new season-low 1.3. Nielsen broke out Warner Bros.' Extra from the ratings due to massive
preemptions in many markets, meaning it recorded no rating for the week.
The Summer Olympics also demolished daytime. NBCU's conflict talker, Maury, fell to its lowest rating since
early April, declining 9% to a 2.1, but managed to be the top talker. CTD's'
usual leader, Dr. Phil, was heavily
preempted, and lost 21% to fall to a new season-low 1.9. Disney-ABC's Live! with Kelly tumbled 26% to a 1.7,
the show's lowest rating in more than 20 years.
NBCU's Jerry Springer was down 13%
to a 1.3. NBCU's Steve Wilkos shrank
8% to a 1.2. Debmar-Mercury's Wendy
Williams was flat at a 0.8, while CTD's Rachael
Ray, Warner Bros.' Ellen, CTD's The Doctors and Sony's Dr. Oz all were broken out due to
preemptions.
Among the rookies, Warner Bros.' Anderson was preempted in 55 markets and
thus also found itself broken out. Debmar-Mercury's Jeremy Kyle was flat at a 0.5, while ES' We the People was broken out. CTD's late-night dating show, Excused, eased 14% to a 0.6.
CTD's top court show, Judge Judy,
retreated 10% from the prior week to a 5.7, a new season low for the queen of
court but still good enough to be the top-rated show in first-run
syndication.
CTD's Judge Joe Brown slipped 4%
to a 2.4. Warner Bros.' People's Court
yielded 5% to a 1.8. Warner Bros.' Judge
Mathis was flat at a 1.4. Twentieth's Judge
Alex dropped 7% to a 1.3, tying Twentieth's Divorce Court, which was flat. ES' America's Court was one of the few shows to see an increase,
climbing 13% to a 0.9.
The game shows also took a hit. CTD's Wheel
of Fortune slowed 10% from the previous week to a new season-low 5.4. CTD's Jeopardy! faded 12% to a new season-low
4.5. Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud
faded 13% to a 2.8. Disney-ABC's Who
Wants to be a Millionaire was marked down 21% to a new season-low 1.9.
Warner Bros.' The Big Bang Theory
declined 6% from the prior week to a 5.9 but remained syndication's top-rated
show. Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men
sank 8% to a new season-low 4.7. Twentieth's
Family Guy was unchanged at a 3.8. Twentieth's How I Met Your Mother moved 14% lower to a 2.4. Twentieth's King of the Hill was flat at a 2.3.
Sony's Seinfeld stumbled 9% to a new
season-low 2.0. Warner Bros.' Friends
fell 14% to a 1.8, tying CTD's Everybody
Loves Raymond, which relinquished 10% to fall to a new season-low 1.8.
