Family Feud held on to both the syndication and game lead in the repeat-heavy summer week ended August 14. The Steve Harvey-led game show dipped 4% to a 5.0 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen.
Major League Baseball’s “Field of Dreams” game on Fox resulted in a large number of preemptions for Debmar-Mercury’s game show – as well as for other shows that air on Fox-owned stations and affiliates in access – on Thursday, August 11.
CBS Media Ventures’ Jeopardy, which often leads syndication and games, bounced up 5% off the prior week’s season low to a second-place 4.4. Both Feud and Jeopardy were in repeats.
CBS’ Wheel of Fortune fell 2% to a new season-low 4.1. Fox’s You Bet Your Life with host Jay Leno lost 13% to a 0.7, tying Fox’s 25 Words or Less, which stayed put for a seventh consecutive week. Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask answered with a 0.4 for the sixth straight week.
At the halfway point of a four-week preview, Fox’s Person, Place or Thing, hosted by Melissa Peterman, earned a 0.3 weighted metered market average for all runs across its nine Fox test markets. That was down 40% from its lead in and trailed its year-ago time periods by 25%. Among syndication’s key demographic of women 25-54, the show averaged a 0.2 to equal its lead in and year-ago time periods.
Back in the national household ratings, Disney’s internet video show RightThisMinute clocked a 0.5 for the third straight week.
CBS’ magazine leaders Inside Edition and Entertainment Tonight were the only shows in the category to improve. Inside Edition finished 5% higher at a 2.1, while Entertainment Tonight improved 11% to a nine-week high 2.0, even though ET lost its primary run in New York and elsewhere due to pre-season NFL football on August 12.
NBCUniversal’s Access Hollywood held its ground at a third place 0.7. Warner Bros.’ Extra had its primary run preempted on August 11 by Fox’s Field of Dreams game in six of the top eight markets, among others, and fell back 17% to a 0.5. That tied CBS’ soon-to-be defunct DailyMailTV, which held steady for the 19th week in a row. Fox’s Dish Nation dawdled at a 0.2 for a 19th straight week.
In daytime, many shows on network affiliates were bumped on August 11 for breaking news on Attorney General Merrick Garland’s remarks regarding the FBI’s search of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate.
Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan eased 7% to a 1.4 but was still the highest-rated talker for a 12th consecutive week, including five ties with CBS’ Dr. Phil. Live has now been the top talker 50 times in the past 65 weeks, including 16 ties with Dr. Phil. Among women 25-54, Live also led at a 0.5. Reruns of Dr. Phil dipped 7% to a second-place 1.3.
Warner Bros.’ ending Ellen DeGeneres was the only one of the 15 talkers to improve, spiking 17% to a 0.7 to tie repeats of NBCU’s Kelly Clarkson and its out-of-production conflict talker Maury, both of which were flat.
Disney’s Tamron Hall, CBS’ Rachael Ray, NBCU’s Steve Wilkos and Debmar-Mercury’s about- to-exit Wendy Williams were all on par with the prior week’s 0.6, 0.6, 0.6 and 0.5, respectively. CBS’ Drew Barrymore fell back 20% to a 0.4. Sony Pictures Television’s soon-to-be-off-the-menu The Good Dish, library episodes of NBCU’s Jerry Springer, and Debmar-Mercury’s short-lived Nick Cannon all stayed at a 0.3.
Repeats of two concluding shows – Warner Bros.’ The Real and CBS’ The Doctors – both stayed at a 0.2 for the 10th and 75th consecutive weeks, respectively.
Library episodes of CBS’ Judge Judy led the courts despite dipping 5% to a 4.2, making Judy syndication’s third-highest rated strip behind Feud and Jeopardy.
CBS’ Hot Bench, Warner Bros.’ People’s Court and Judge Mathis, Fox’s Divorce Court, NBCU’s canceled Judge Jerry and Wrigley Media’s rookie Relative Justice were all flat at a 1.2, 0.7, 0.5, 0.4, 0.4 and 0.3, respectively.
Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory led the off-network sitcoms even though it contracted 5% to a 1.8. Disney’s Last Man Standing stood pat at a 1.1. Warner Bros.’ Young Sheldon shed 13% to a 0.7, tying Disney’s Modern Family and Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men, both of which held steady. Disney’s Family Guy forfeited 14% to a 0.6, tying Sony’s The Goldbergs, which was steady. Sony’s Seinfeld skidded 17% to a new series-low 0.5. Finally, Warner Bros.’ Mom and Disney’s Black-ish both tumbled 20% to a 0.4, tying Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly, which marshaled a 0.4 for the ninth straight week.
