Disney-ABC's Live! with Kelly matched its best rating in nine years
with its Sept. 4 announcement that Fox NFL commentator and former New York
Giant Michael Strahan would be Kelly Ripa's new permanent co-host on the show.
Live!'s opening day scored a 3.3 live plus same day national
household rating, matching 2006's premiere and just a tenth of a ratings point
back from its 3.4 kick-off in 2003.
That number gave Live! top-talker bragging rights, with the show
averaging a 2.8, up 27% from the prior week and up 8% from last year at this
time. Talk's usual leader, CBS Television Distribution's Dr. Phil,
remained flat in repeats at a 2.5, up 4% from last year. Dr. Phil
didn't premiere until Tuesday, Sept. 11, after the show's originally-scheduled
premiere was preempted in favor of airing the rain-delayed final of the U.S.
Open Men's Tennis tournament.
NBCU's Maury and Sony's Dr. Oz tied for third place, with
both shows steady at a 2.1. Warner Bros.' Ellen remained at a 1.6 in
the final week before its high-rated tenth-season premiere.
CTD's Rachael Ray rose 15% for both the week and the year to a 1.5.
CTD's The Doctors and NBCU's Jerry Springer each were
unchanged at a 1.4 and 1.3, respectively. NBCU's Steve Wilkos increased 18% to
a 1.3, tying Springer. Warner Bros.' Anderson,
in its final week before being reintroduced as Anderson
Live!, slipped 17% to a 1.0. Debmar-Mercury's Wendy Williams weakened
11% to a 0.8, while the distributor's Jeremy Kyle remained flat at a
0.5.
NBCU's rookie, Steve Harvey, the first of the new crop of talk
shows to be nationally rated, scored the highest premiere week since Sony's Dr.
Oz debuted in 2009, at a 1.2. Among women 25-54, Harvey
earned a 0.8, out-rating or tying seven of the twelve veteran talkers. Next
week, the premiere-week national household rating for Disney-ABC's Katie is
expected to outpace Harvey,
however.
Elsewhere, CTD's late-night dating show Excused held firm at a 0.6.
Among the court shows, CTD's Judge Judy, still in reruns, slipped
12% from the prior week to a 5.7. CTD's Judge Joe Brown fell 4% to a
2.4. Warner Bros.' People's Court was flat at a 1.9. Warner Bros.' Judge
Mathis tacked on 7% to a 1.6. Twentieth's Judge Alex was
unchanged at a 1.4, tying Twentieth's Divorce Court, which added 8% to
a 1.4. Entertainment Studios' America's Court held steady at a 1.1.
Magazines suffered numerous preemptions due to the Democratic National
Convention, which kicked off on Sept. 4. The only magazine to grow from the prior week was NBCU's Access Hollywood,
which added 6% in households to a 1.7 and 11% among women 25-54 to a 1.0.
CTD's Entertainment Tonight was off 6% to a 3.1 CTD's Inside
Edition tumbled 17% to a 2.4, that show's lowest rating since 2008. Warner
Bros.' TMZ slipped 5% to a 1.8. Warner Bros.' Extra avoided
the downturn, holding steady at a 1.4, even though it was heavily preempted.
CTD's The Insider retreated 7% to a 1.3.
CTD's Wheel of Fortune rolled to a 5.8, up 5% from the prior week.
CTD's Jeopardy! and Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud each were
flat at a 4.5 and 3.2, respectively. Disney-ABC's Who Wants to be a
Millionaire lost 4% to a 2.3.
Warner Bros.' off-net sitcom leader, The Big Bang Theory, gained 6%
from the previous frame to a 6.6, taking the overall syndication lead. In
second place, Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men saw a 2% uptick to a
4.9. Twentieth's Family Guy remained at a 3.8. Twentieth's How I
Met Your Mother spiked 17% to a 2.8. CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond rallied
10% to a 2.3. Sony's Seinfeld was stable at a 2.2. Twentieth's King
of the Hill declined 5% to a 2.1, while Warner Bros.' Friends
fell 6% to a 1.7.
