Syndie advances stalled in the week ending August 4 as Time Warner Cable, the country's second-largest cable operator, blacked out CBS stations in seven of the top 11 markets - including New York, Los Angeles and Dallas - leaving approximately three million households without CBS since Aug. 2.
Among the talkers, CBS Television Distribution's usual leader, Dr. Phil, and Disney-ABC's red-hot Live! with Kelly and Michael showed enormous year-to-year increases compared to last year when the Summer Olympic Games were airing on NBC from London. Phil leaped 37% from last year and was the only talk show to improve for the week, gaining 4% to a first-place 2.6, despite being in reruns all week.
Live!, which is being inducted into the B&C Hall of Fame in October, skyrocketed 47% from last year, landing right behind Phil after holding steady for the week at a 2.5.
Sony Pictures Television's Dr. Oz, in repeats four out of five days, dipped 5% to a third-place 2.0.
NBCU's Maury also was off 5% to a 1.9, tying Warner Bros.' Ellen, which was flat. Maury, which usually jumps in the summer, is down 10% for the year.
Next in line was the season's rookie champ, Disney-ABC's Katie, which went from running all originals to all repeats, and dropped 13% to a new season low 1.4.
NBCU's Jerry Springer and CTD's Rachael Ray remained tied at a 1.3. NBCU's Steve Wilkos gave back 8% to a 1.2, tying CTD's The Doctors and NBCU's Steve Harvey, which both held firm, and Debmar-Mercury's Wendy Williams, finally in repeats, which had the largest week to week decline of any talker but the largest year-to-year increase. Wendy fell 14% from the previous week, but gained 50% from last year.
NBCU's Trisha was unchanged at a 0.5, while Meredith's The Better Show was last, posting a 0.2 for the third straight week.
Warner Bros.' The Real finished up a four-week test on select Fox TV stations, averaging a 1.1 rating/4 share in households for its entire run, up 57% from its year-ago time periods.
Meanwhile, Twentieth's Kris Jenner averaged a 0.8/2 for its first four weeks of its six-week test and was unchanged from its August 2012 time periods.
Among women 25-54, The Real jumped 150% from last year's time periods to a 1.0/7, while Kris increased 40% to a 0.7/5.
On WNYW New York, the only market in which the two newcomers run back to back, The Real at noon shot up 40% from its Kris lead-in to a 1.4/5 four-week household average. In addition, The Real was tops in its time period in the key women 25-54 demographic over its entire month-long run, surging 200% from the year-ago shows it replaced to a 1.5/10.
At the top of the first-run chart, CTD's Judge Judy, in repeats all week, ticked up 3% from the prior week, and climbed 9% from last year to a 6.2, remaining the first-run leader. Warner Bros.' People's Court rebounded 7% from its season low in the prior session to a 1.6. Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis was flat at a 1.3. Twentieth's Judge Alex added 10% to a 1.1. Twentieth's Divorce Court dropped 9% to a new season-low 1.0. Entertainment Studios' America's Court was flat at a 0.6. ES' newcomer Justice for All lost 20% to a 0.4 and its We the People was flat at a 0.2.
Magazines were rock solid with every magazine holding steady, except Twentieth's Dish Nation, which dropped 10% to a 0.9.
CTD's Entertainment Tonight set the pace, followed by CTD's Inside Edition, Warner Bros.' TMZ, NBCU's Access Hollywood, Warner Bros.' Extra and CTD's omg! Insider at a 3.3, 2.7, 1.8, 1.6, 1.3 and 1.3, respectively. Among the companion shows, omg! insider weekend jumped 25% from the previous frame to a 1.0.
Game shows were mostly steady. CTD's leader Wheel of Fortune slid 2% from the prior week to a 5.9. CTD's Jeopardy! also weakened 2% to a 5.5. Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud was the only game to improve, inching up 2% to a 4.6, the only game to improve for the week. Disney-ABC's Who Wants to be a Millionaire dropped 8% to a 2.3, while NBCU's Baggage checked in at a 1.0 for the third straight week.
Among the off-net sitcoms, Warner Bros.' The Big Bang Theory cooled off 2% to a 6.3, but led all of syndication. Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men also declined 2% to a 4.1. Twentieth's Family Guy dipped 3% to a 3.4. Twentieth's How I Met Your Mother faded 4% to a 2.3, tying Warner Bros.' Friends, which finished 5% higher. Twentieth's King of the Hill dropped 8% to a 2.2. SPT's Seinfeld slipped 5% to a 2.1, while CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond was unchanged at a 1.8.
