Syndicated ratings were narrowly
mixed in the week ending Feb. 28 as widespread preemptions and
competition with
week two of the Winter
Olympics kept a lid on Nielsen scores. Meanwhile,
CBS Television Distribution's
(CTD) Entertainment
Tonight took top
rating honors among magazines on March 8, for its coverage of the
Oscars. ET clocked a 5.7
rating/10 share average
for its primary runs in the overnight markets, which was up 27% from the
previous week.
That
was followed by CTD's Inside Edition with a 3.4/7, up 6%. NBCU's Access Hollywood had a 3.2/6, up
28%. Warner Bros.' Extra pulled a
2.6/5 and rose 24%. CTD's The
Insider scored a 2.2/5, climbing
16%. Warner Bros.' TMZ had an unchanged
2.1/4.
In
the national ratings, court
shows led by CTD's Judge Judy, were
among the stronger performers in the session ending Feb. 28, which
included the
third full week of the sweep. Judy
tied CTD's Oprah at 4.7 and held even with the week
before. CTD's Judge Joe Brown was
up 5% in households
to 2.3 and 10% in the women 18-49 demo.
Warner Bros.' People's Court
added 5% to 2.2. Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis rose 6%
to 1.8. Twentieth's Judge Alex tacked on 7% to
1.6. Twentieth's
Divorce
Court settled for a 7% increase to 1.5. Warner
Bros.' Judge Jeannine Pirro was last at a flat
1.1.
Among
talk shows, Oprah inched up 2% to 4.7 after
declining the two previous weeks.
Disney/ABC's Live With Regis and
Kelly added 4% to 2.7. CTD's Dr. Phil, which did
not air in eight of
the 56 metered markets, slipped 7% to 2.6.
NBCU's Maury climbed 5% to
2.3. Warner Bros.' Ellen Degeneres
declined 4% to 2.2. NBCU's Steve Wilkos was up
8% to 1.4, tying
NBCU's Jerry
Springer, which was flat
at 1.4. NBCU's Martha Stewart
continued to trail the
field at an unchanged 0.6.
CTD's
The Doctors,
Rachael Ray
(CTD) and Warner Bros.' Bonnie Hunt were all broken out of the
ratings due to preemptions.
Off-net
rookie standout NBCU's The Office held firm at 3.1. First-run leader Sony's Dr. Oz recovered 8%,
after a 25% slide
in the previous session, to a 2.6.
Twentieth's Are You Smarter Than a
Fifth Grader was unchanged at 1.5.
Debmar-Mercury's Wendy
Williams was up 9% to 1.2.
Litton's Street Court skipped
ahead 17% to 0.7.
Top
shelf magazine Entertainment Tonight was down 5% to
4.2, although its ETWeekend grew 4%
week-to-week and 19%
year-to-year to 2.5. Inside Edition
sagged 3% to 3.1. Access Hollywood
was flat at 2.4. TMZ gained 5%
to 2.1. Extra was up 11% to 2.0. The Insider held firm at 1.8.
Among
game shows, CTD's Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy each logged
3% upticks to 7.4
and 6.4 respectively. Disney/ABC's
Who Wants to
Be a Millionaire was
marked down 4% to 2.6.
Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud
was flat at 1.3. NBCU's Deal Or No
Deal had no rating; it was
broken out all week.
Off-net
sitcoms were mostly
higher, though leader Warner Bros.' Two
and a Half Men remained unchanged at 5.5. Twentieth's
Family Guy
grew 3% to 3.6. Sony's Seinfeld
was up 4% to 2.8, tying Warner
Bros.' George
Lopez, which was steady
at 2.8. CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond
was flat at
2.7. Twentieth's King of the Hill
jumped 8% to a new
season-high 2.6. Warner Bros.' Friends
improved 5% to 2.2.
