Court was the winning genre in the week ended July 22, the first week in more than a month that didn’t see syndies preempted by 2018 FIFA World Cup soccer. Court also was the only category in which not a single show in the top five declined from the prior week and in which all three of the top shows improved.
Preemptions still took their toll, however, with many daytime shows bumped for coverage of President Donald Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16 and Trump’s corrective follow-up comments on July 17.
In addition, some access shows were sacrificed for baseball’s annual All-Star game on Fox on July 17.
CBS Television Distribution’s Judge Judy advanced 2% to a four-week high 6.3 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, despite being in reruns on all five days. That tied Judy with Debmar-Mercury’s access game-show leader Family Feud as syndication’s top-ranked overall programs in households.
CTD’s Hot Bench was the number-two courtroom and number-three daytime show behind only Judy and CTD’s Dr. Phil with an 11% jump to a five-week high 2.1. Warner Bros.’ People’sCourt completed the legal trifecta, climbing 8% to a four-week high 1.4.
After that, Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis held steady at a 1.0 and Twentieth’s Divorce Court remained at its series low 0.7.
Trifecta’s Judge Faith, which is out of production, was the lone court to lose ground for the week, sliding 17% to a 0.5 and matching its series low.
Dr. Phil, entirely in repeats, still led the category for the 98th straight week with two ties, even though it gave back 7% to a 2.6. Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Phil also led with a 1.1.
Disney-ABC’s Live with Kelly and Ryan took sole possession of second place for the fifth straight week, although it dipped 5% to a 1.9. Live added 13% in the key demo to a 0.9.
Warner Bros.’ The Ellen DeGeneres Show and NBCU’s Maury were each unchanged at a 1.6 and 1.3, respectively. NBCU’s Steve, which aired repacked and repeat episodes all week, eased 8% to a 1.1, tying Debmar-Mercury’s The Wendy Williams Show, which was steady.
NBCU’s conflict talkers Jerry Springer, which is out of production, and Steve Wilkos, which, along with Maury, has been renewed for two years, each were flat at a 1.0, tying Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz, which was talk’s sole gainer with an 11% recovery from series-low levels.
Warner Bros.’ Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen, which is soon to wrap, and CTD’s TheDoctors each were stable at a 0.8 and 0.7, respectively. Warner Bros.’ The Real retreated 17% to a 0.5, tying NBCU’s exiting Harry, which also shed 17%.
Among the first-run rookies, CTD’s DailyMailTV returned to its season-low 0.9 for the fifth time in six weeks with a 10% drop and registered a 20% decline among women 25-54 to a 0.4. Twentieth’s Page Six TV reported its sixth straight season-low 0.6 and was unchanged at a 0.3 in the demo.
Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask sagged 20% to a 0.4 but remained at a 0.2 among women 25-54. For the fourth straight week, ratings for Disney-ABC’s Pickler & Ben, produced by E. W. Scripps, were reprocessed and unavailable.
Week two of a four-week trial for Warner Bros.’ viral video clip show The Hustle held at a 0.5 rating/1 share on Fox owned stations in eight metered markets, declining 29% from its lead-in and slipping 17% from its year-ago time period averages. Among women 25-54, The Hustle slowed 25% from both lead-ins and year-ago to a 0.3/2.
Games were mixed after being up across the board in the previous round.
Family Feud inched up 2% to a 6.3, tying the aforementioned Judge Judy for the syndication lead in households. CTD’s Jeopardy! had no answer, remaining at a 5.6. CTD’s Wheel of Fortune slowed down 2% to a 5.3, matching its season low. Disney-ABC’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire depreciated 6% to a 1.5.
Elsewhere, Disney-ABC’s viral video show RightThisMinute was unchanged at its season-low 1.3 for the fifth straight week. NBCU’s off-net true-crime strip Dateline stayed at a 1.2.
Among magazines, CTD’s Inside Edition rose 4% to a 2.8 to lead the category, just ahead of sister show Entertainment Tonight, which also added 4% to a 2.7. Warner Bros.’ TMZ slumped 8% to a 1.1. NBCU’s Access and Warner Bros.’ Extra both held steady and remained tied at a 1.0. Further back, Trifecta’s Celebrity Page stayed at a 0.2.
Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory deflated 5% to a 4.2, but remained the off-net sitcom leader. Twentieth’s Last Man Standing spiked 20% to a 2.4, matching its series high. Twentieth’s Modern Family faded 5% to a 1.9, matching its series low. SPT’s newcomer TheGoldbergs was unchanged at a 1.6. Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men moved up 7% to a 1.5. Twentieth’s Family Guy gave back 13% to a 1.3. Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly took an 8% hit and dropped to a 1.2, matching its series low. Warner Bros.’ 2 Broke Girls, Twentieth’s How I Met Your Mother and The Cleveland Show and SPT’s Seinfeld all were flat at a 1.1, 1.0, 1.0 and 1.0, respectively.
Further back, Warner Bros.’ rookie Mom was unchanged at a 0.9, while CTD’s fellow freshman The Game ended the week with an even 0.4.
