The May sweeps (April 29-May 26) got underway in the week
ending May 2 and most of syndication rose to the occasion, with court, talk,
magazine and game shows moving up from the week before.
CBS Television Distribution's (CTD) Judge Judy, which has been the queen
of the daytime ratings for most of the year, beat CTD's Oprah for the
seventh straight week with a 4.6, up 5% from the week before and up 10% from
last year. In addition, Judy jumped 20% among young women
18-34. Oprah, meanwhile, inched up 2% in households week-to-week
but was down 20% from last year. CTD's Judge Joe Brown rallied 5%
to 2.1 as the no. 2 court room after Judy. Warner Bros.' People's
Court ratcheted up 11% to 2.0. Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis
jumped 14% to 1.6. Twentieth's Judge Alex and Divorce Court
were flat at 1.4. Warner Bros.' Judge Jeannine Pirro got closer to
the field with a 22% hike to 1.1.
Among talkers following Oprah, CTD's Dr. Phil hit his highest
ratings in six weeks, improving 4% to 2.6. Disney/ABC's Live With
Regis and Kelly also added 4% to 2.6. Warner Bros.' Ellen
Degeneres advanced 5% to 2.3. NBCU's Maury was up 5% to
2.0. CTD's The Doctors climbed 6% to 1.8. CTD's Rachael
Ray held steady at 1.5. NBCU's Jerry Springer and Steve
Wilkos each gained 8% to 1.4 and 1.3, respectively.
NBCU's The Office topped the season's freshman crop as usual, with a
firm 2.9. In first-run, Sony's Dr. Oz recovered from the previous
week's season low with a 4% ratings infusion to 2.4. Twentieth's Are
You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader was unchanged at 1.4.
Debmar-Mercury's Wendy Williams gained 8% to 1.3. Litton's Street
Court continued to trail with a flat 0.5.
Magazines were sharp, with leader CTD's Entertainment Tonight growing
20% among W18-34 and 2% in households to 4.1. CTD's Inside Edition
tacked on 3% to 3.0. Warner Bros.' TMZ was up 5% to 2.0.
NBCU's Access Hollywood was flat at 1.9. CTD's The Insider
had the largest increase in the category with a 13% leap to 1.8. Warner
Bros.' Extra was unchanged at 1.7.
Game shows played out with single digit increases. CTD's Wheel of
Fortune rolled ahead 3% to 6.5. CTD's Jeopardy was up 4% to
5.6. Disney/ABC's Who Wants To Be a Millionaire improved 4% to
2.4. Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud clicked for a 7% advance to 1.5.
Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men was the top off-net sitcom, adding 7%
to 4.8. Twentieth's Family Guy declined 3% to 3.2. CTD's Everybody
Loves Raymond rose 3% to 3.0. Warner Bros.' George Lopez was
up 4% to 2.8. Sony's Seinfeld remained steady at 2.7.
Twentieth's King of the Hill perked up 4% to 2.4. Warner Bros.' Friends
and House of Payne were flat at 2.2 and 1.7, respectively. CTD's Frasier
rebounded 15% to 1.5, tying Sony's King of Queens, which was up 7% to
1.5.
