Coverage of the suddenly rocky marriage of Academy
Award-winner Sandra Bullock and reality TV star Jesse James, sent ratings for
most magazine shows skyward in the week ending Mar. 28, easily trumping such
negatives as week two of daylight savings time and the NCAA men's basketball
tournament.
Top newsmagazine, CBS Television Distribution's (CTD) Entertainment Tonight, scored a 4.7, up
15% from the week before and 9% from last year at this time. ET
Weekend leaped 29% week-to-week and 16% year-to-year to 2.2. CTD's Inside
Edition logged a 3.0, up 7% on the week and 3% on the year. NBCU's Access
Hollywood rallied 10% to 2.2 and was flat year-to-year. Warner Bros.' TMZ saw its ratings dwindle by 5% to 2.0 while declining 13% from
last year. CTD's The Insider matched its season-high, tying TMZ at 2.0 with an 18% surge for the week and a 25% leap from last
year. Warner Bros.' Extra was up 6% week-to-week and year-to-year to 1.9.
In daytime, CTD court show Judge Judy was also syndication's highest-rated first-run
strip. Its ratings ballooned 12% to
4.6. In the GAA ratings, Judy was the highest-rated show overall
with a 7.1. CTD's Judge Joe Brown, the no. 2 courtroom, held steady at 2.2. Warner Bros.' People's Court was flat at 2.0.
Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis
added 6% to1.7. Twentieth's Judge Alex was unchanged at 1.4. Twentieth's Divorce Court
settled for an 8% hike to 1.4. Warner
Bros.' Judge Jeannine Pirro trailed
with an unchanged 1.1.
Elsewhere, CTD's Oprah
was second among daytimers but led the talkers with a 9% rebound to 3.8 after
dropping 25% in the prior session. CTD's
Dr. Phil gained 9% to 2.5. Disney/ABC's Live With Regis and Kelly lost 8% to 2.3. Warner Bros.' Ellen Degeneres slipped 4% to 2.2.
NBCU's Maury was flat at
1.9. CTD's The Doctors rose 6% to 1.8.
CTD's Rachael Ray whipped up a
7% increase to 1.6. NBCU's Jerry Springer and Steve Wilkos were unchanged at 1.3 and 1.2, respectively. Warner Bros.' Bonnie Hunt was up 14% to 0.8.
NBCU's Martha Stewart was up
20% to 0.6.
Among rookies, NBCU's The
Office dipped 6% to 2.9, while in first-run, Sony's Dr. Oz recovered 9% to a 2.5.
Twentieth's Are You Smarter Than a
Fifth Grader and Debmar-Mercury's Wendy
Williams were flat at 1.5 and 1.2, respectively. Litton's Street
Court jumped 20% to 0.6.
The big game shows had small gains following sharp declined
in the prior session. CTD's Wheel of Fortune edged ahead 2% to
6.4. CTD's Jeopardy inched up 2% to 5.4.
Disney/ABC's Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire was rewarded with a 9% increase to 2.4. Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud was flat at 1.3.
NBCU's Deal Or No Deal perked
up 10% to 1.1.
Off-net sitcoms were mixed.
Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men
advanced 4% to 4.8. Twentieth's Family Guy held steady at 3.3. CTD's Everybody
Loves Raymond rallied 11% to 3.0.
Sony's Seinfeld and Warner
Bros.' George Lopez were unchanged at
2.8 and 2.7, respectively. Twentieth's King of the Hill was up 4% to 2.5. Warner Bros.' Friends fell 5% to 2.0. Frasier gained 7% to 1.6. House
of Payne plunged 12% to 1.5. Sony's King of Queens was flat at 1.5.
