Repeats marked the week ending Aug. 4, with CBS Television Distribution’s court leader JudgeJudy leading all shows at a 5.8 live plus same day household national ratings average, according to Nielsen Media Research. Judy climbed 2% despite airing reruns the entire week.
Encore episodes weren’t the only factor driving ratings down -- shows like Judy that air on CBS-owned stations took a hit when 28 stations were blacked out on AT&T-owned DirecTV, DirecTV Now and AT&T U-verse in 14 markets, including in the country’s three largest, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Related: CBS, AT&T End Three-Week Blackout
The rest of court was steady to higher. CTD’s Hot Bench, in repeats on three of the five days, held its ground at a 1.9. Warner Bros.’ People’s Court picked up 8% to a 1.3. Warner Bros.’ Judge Mathis moved ahead 13% to a 0.9. Twentieth’s Divorce Court settled for a 0.6 for the sixth straight week, while Debmar-Mercury’s rookie Caught in Providence remained at a 0.5 for a seventh straight week.
CTD’s Dr. Phil remained the top talker for the 152nd straight week, with five ties, climbing 5% to a 2.1 even though the show was in repeats. Among daytime’s key demographic of women 25-54, Phil tied Disney’s Live with Kelly and Ryan for first at a 0.8.
Back in households, Live nipped at Phil’s heels, holding steady at a 1.9 and claiming second place for the 23rd consecutive week.
Filling out the top five were Warner Bros.’ Ellen DeGeneres at an unchanged 1.4, and NBCUniversal’s Maury and Debmar-Mercury’s Wendy Williams, both of which gained 9% to a 1.2.
Further back, NBCU’s Steve Wilkos and NBCU’s soon-to-depart Steve, starring Steve Harvey, each improved 11% to a 1.0. CTD’s Rachael Ray retreated 10% to a 0.9, tying Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz, which stabilized at a 0.9 for a fourth straight week.
CTD’s freshman Face the Truth, facing the end of its run, rebounded 20% to a 0.6. Warner Bros.’ The Real returned a 0.5 for a fourth consecutive week. CTD’s The Doctors deteriorated 20% to a new series-low 0.4, while Disney’s soon-to-end Pickler & Ben and the syndicated version of NBCU’s out-of-production Jerry Springer each remained at a 0.3.
Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud fell 2% to a 5.7 but outplayed all other games for an eighth straight week. CTD’s Wheel of Fortune was flat at a 5.0. CTD’s Jeopardy! in repeats skidded 13% to a new season-low 4.7. Disney’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire, which will cash out shortly, recovered 7% to a 1.5. Entertainment Studios’ Funny You Should Ask responded with a 0.5 for the 21st consecutive week.
Week four of the six-week tryout of comedy game show Punchline, which began July 15, staged a 0.3 rating/1 share household weighted metered market average on select Fox stations. That was off 40% from its lead-ins and August 2018 time-period average. Among women 25-54, the show turned in a 0.2/1, 33% off its lead-ins and year-ago time periods.
The August 12 debut of a three-week test of talker Jerry O starring Jerry O’Connell averaged a preliminary overnight metered market rating of 1.0 rating/4 share on Fox owned stations, down 17% from its lead-in, which is usually Good Day, although even with its year-ago time periods, which is largely repeats of Wendy Williams. Among women 25-54, Jerry O averaged a 0.5 rating/4 share, off 17% from both lead-ins and year-ago time periods.
Related: 'Jerry O' Hopes to Bring Stations Its Brand of Funny
Back in the national ratings, Disney’s viral video show RightThisMinute clocked a 9% recovery to a 1.2.
Viewer interest in the on-air farewell of CTD’s longtime Entertainment Tonight co-host Nancy O’Dell buoyed the show 4% to a 2.4, the only uptick in the category. That put ET right behind sibling Inside Edition, which stood pat to lead the magazines at a 2.5.
Related: Nancy O'Dell Departing 'Entertainment Tonight'
Warner Bros.’ TMZ tumbled 8% to a 1.1, while NBCU’s Access, Warner Bros.’ Extra, CTD’s DailyMailTV, Twentieth’s Page Six TV and Trifecta’s Celebrity Page all held steady at a 1.0, 0.9, 0.9, 0.5 and 0.2, respectively.
NBCU’s Dateline was flat at a 1.2. SPT’s off-A&E Live PD Police Patrol was in hot pursuit, picking up 10% to a 1.1, while off-Investigation Discovery’s True Crime Files detected an unchanged 0.3.
NBCU’s scripted procedural Chicago PD remained at a 0.8 for the third week in a row.
Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory was unchanged at a 4.1. Twentieth’s Last Man Standing jumped 10% to a 2.2. Twentieth’s Modern Family and Warner Bros.’ Two and a Half Men stayed at a 1.6 and 1.3, respectively. Twentieth’s FamilyGuy gave back 8% to a 1.2, tying SPT’s TheGoldbergs, which remained at its series-low 1.2 for a second straight week. Disney’s rookie Black-ish, Warner Bros.’ Mike & Molly and SPT’s Seinfeld all were steady at a 1.0, while Warner Bros.’ 2 Broke Girls slumped 11% to a new season low 0.8, tying Warner Bros.’ Mom, which remained at a 0.8 for the fifth straight week.
