Former Food Network star Paula Deen's racism scandal blew up
in the week ending June 30, with the souffle really hitting the fan after the
cook's tearful June 26 interview with Today's Matt Lauer.
The syndicated magazines ate the story up, with ratings for
nearly all of the magazines spiking despite a summer heat wave and pre-emptions
for the Stanley Cup hockey finals and the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex
marriage.
CBS Television Distribution (CTD)'s leader Entertainment
Tonight rose 3% for the week and year to 3.4 live plus same day household
ratings average, according to Nielsen Media Research. CTD's Inside Edition
added 4% to a 2.7. Warner Bros.' TMZ grew 6% to a 1.9. NBCU's Access
Hollywood added 6% to a 1.7, that show's highest ratings in seven weeks.
CTD's reformatted omg! Insider had the largest jump of any vet,
advancing 8% to a 1.4, although Twentieth's rookie, Dish Nation, climbed
11% to a 1.0. Warner Bros.' Extra dipped 7% to a 1.3, after being
preempted by hockey seven times in the top 20 markets.
Talk shows, although mostly in repeats, held up as well.
CTD's Dr. Phil remained in first place at a 2.5 with an all rerun-week,
up 4% from the prior week. Among daytime's key demographic of women 25-54, Dr.
Phil tied with Disney/ABC's Live! with Kelly and Michael, climbing
7% to a 1.5.
Live! also improved 4% for the week and year to a
second-place 2.4, and, like Dr. Phil, was up 7% among women 25-54.
In third place, NBCUniversal's Maury began its annual
summer surge with a 10% gain to a 2.2 in households. Maury also easily
won the talk races among women 18-49 at a 1.5 and women 18-34 at a 1.4.
Sony Pictures Television's Dr. Oz, in repeats, held
steady at a 2.0, while jumping 10% among women 25-54 to a 1.1.
Warrner Bros.' Ellen, also in repeats, eased 5% to a
new season-low 1.8, but improved 13% compared to last year at this time, the most
of any talker.
NBCU's Steve Wilkos added 8% for the week and year to
a 1.3 in households, and leapt 29% among women 25-54 to a 0.9. Likewise, NBCU's
Jerry Springer also gained 8% to a 1.3 in households.
CTD's Rachael Ray remained at a 1.2, tying Debmar-Mercury's
Wendy Williams, which weakened 8% to a 1.2, with originals on four of
the five days.
CTD's The Doctors, in reruns, declined 8% to a new
season-low 1.1. Meredith's The Better Show trailed with a flat 0.1.
Among the rookie talkers, Disney/ABC's Katie, in
originals, held steady at a 1.6, leading NBCU's Steve Harvey, which was
flat at a 1.2 in repeats.
NBCU's Trisha, meanwhile, was stable at a 0.5.
CTD's Judge Judy ruled first-run syndication with a
6.3, off 2% from the prior week but up 3% from last year at this time. Judy
has now been syndication's top first-run show for nine weeks in a row.
Warner Bros.' People's Court, in second place, rose
6% to a 1.8. Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis was flat at a 1.3, tying
Twentieth's Judge Alex, which added 8%. Twentieth's Divorce Court
was flat at a 1.2. Entertainment Studios' America's Court fell 14% to a
0.6, while the studio's newcomer Justice for All and sophomore We the
People were unchanged at a 0.4 and a 0.2, respectively.
Among game shows, both CTD's Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!
recovered from their season lows in the previous session, with Wheel rebounding
4% to a 5.8 and Jeopardy! jumping 4% to a 5.5. Debmar-Mercury's Family
Feud inched ahead 2% to a 4.4. Disney/ABC's Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire dropped 4% to a 2.2. NBCU's rookie Baggage increased 11%
to a 1.0.
In off-net syndication, Warner Bros.' The Big
Bang Theory made some noise with a 5% jump from the prior week to a 6.6.,
reclaiming the overall syndie lead. Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men held
at a 4.3. Twentieth's Family Guy was flat at a 3.1, while its How I
Met Your Mother moved up 4% to a 2.5. Twentieth's King of the Hill climbed
10% to a 2.3. Warner Bros.' Friends finished 11% higher to a 2.1. SPT's Seinfeld
was steady at a 2.0, while CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond rose 6% to
a 1.7.
