The vast majority of syndicated shows were slightly lower or flat in the
first full week of the May sweeps, as PUT levels fell sharply.
However, the top two talkers, CBS Television Distribution's (CTD)
Oprah and CTD's Dr. Phil, were among the very few strips
bucking the downtrend.
Oprah rose 7% to a 4.6 and inched ahead of usual daytime leader
CTD's Judge Judy's 4.4, down 4%, for the first time in the past
eight weeks. Although, compared to last year at this time,
Oprah was still down 12% while Judy was up 10%.
Oprah got a boost from her May 6 show about a woman whose tumor
covered half of her face and brothers who nearly starved to death. The
episode was easily
Oprah's biggest draw of the week at a 5.2. Dr. Phil, the
only other talk show improving in the week ending May 9, rallied 11%
among women 18-34 and 4% in households to a 2.7, its highest rating in
eight weeks.
Disney/ABC's
Live With Regis & Kelly dropped 4% to 2.5. Warner Bros.' Ellen
DeGeneres lost 4% to 2.2. NBCU's
Maury was flat at 2.0. CTD's The Doctors dipped 6% to
1.7. CTD's
Rachael Ray slipped 7% to 1.4. NBCU's Jerry Springer
retreated 7% to 1.3. Steve Wilkos was unchanged at 1.3. Warner
Bros.'
Bonnie Hunt was flat at 0.8 and NBCU's Martha Stewart sank
17% to 0.5.
Court shows, following Judge Judy, were CTD's Judge Joe Brown,
which was down 10% to 1.9, Warner Bros.'
People's Court which slid 5% to 1.9, Warner Bros.' Judge
Mathis and Twentieth's
Judge Alex, which were flat at 1.6 and 1.4, respectively.
Twentieth's
Divorce Court fell 7% to 1.3. Warner Bros.' Judge Jeannine Pirro
sank 9% to a last place 1.0.
Top freshman NBCU's The Office eased 3% to 2.8. In first run,
Sony's Dr. Oz suffered a 4% decline and tied his season-low 2.3.
Twentieth's
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader was marked up 7% to 1.5.
Debmar-Mercury's
Wendy Williams was unchanged at 1.3.
CTD's Entertainment Tonight headed the magazine list with a
steady 4.1. CTD's
Inside Edition eroded 7% to 2.8. Warner Bros.' TMZ and
NBCU's Access Hollywood were flat at 2.0 and 1.9, respectively.
CTD's
The Insider was down 6% to 1.7. Warner Bros.' Extra
slipped 6% to 1.6.
Game shows were led by CTD's Wheel of Fortune, which skidded 5%
to 6.2. CTD's
Jeopardy! lost 4% to 5.4. Disney/ABC's Who Wants To Be a
Millionaire was down 8% to 2.2. Debmar-Mercury's
Family Feud was flat at 1.5. NBCU's Deal Or No Deal
descended 9% to 1.0.
Among off-net sitcoms, Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men faded 6%
to 4.5. Twentieth's
Family Guy gave back 3% to 3.1. CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond
was unchanged at 3.0. Warner Bros.'
George Lopez fell 7% to 2.6. Sony's Seinfeld shed 4% to
2.6. Twentieth's
King of the Hill was flat at 2.4. Warner Bros.' Friends
fizzled 9% to 2.0.
House of Payne and Sony's King of Queens remained at 1.7
and 1.5, respectively. CTD's
Frasier was down 7% to 1.4.
