Syndies were mostly steady in the week ended on April Fool's Day, Sunday, April 1. Most shows were in repeats, but with March Madness rolling to an end and television viewing up during the week, the net effect was that most shows held their own.
CBS Television Distribution's Dr. Phil bounced back to a 2.7 live plus same day household ratings average, up 8% from the prior week and showing the most growth for the week of any daytime show. Sony's Dr. Oz dipped 4% to a 2.7, tying Dr. Phil to remain atop the talkers for the second week in a row.
Disney-ABC's Live! with Kelly, still airing repacked episodes, remained at its season-low 2.4. NBCU's Maury edged up 5% to a 2.3. Warner Bros.' Ellen eroded 17%, daytime's biggest decline, dropping to a new season-low 1.9. CTD's The Doctors added 7% to a 1.6, and everything else was steady: CTD's Rachael Ray, NBCU's Jerry Springer, NBCU's Steve Wilkos, Debmar-Mercury's Wendy Williams and Sony's Nate Berkus all remained at a respective 1.5, 1.4, 1.2, 1.1 and 0.9.
Warner Bros.' rookie talker Anderson and Debmar-Mercury's Jeremy Kyle both were steady at a 1.3 and 0.6, respectively. Entertainment Studios' We the People declined 20% to a 0.4.
CTD's late-night rookie, Excused, lost 14% to a 0.6.
CTD's Judge Judy was first-run syndication's top show at a 6.7, inching up 3% from the prior week. CTD's Judge JoeBrown dipped 4% to a 2.5. Warner Bros.' People's Court added 5% to a 2.0. Twentieth's Judge Alex softened 6% to a 1.5, tying Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis, which was flat at a 1.5. Twentieth's Divorce Court declined 7% to a 1.3. CTD's Swift Justice remained at its season-low 1.2 and had the largest year-to-year decline of any court show, sinking 33%, while Entertainment Studios' America's Court receded 10% to a 0.9.
Among the magazines, CTD's Entertainment Tonight gave back 5% to a 3.5. CTD's Inside Edition inched up 4% to a 2.9. Warner Bros.' TMZ recovered 5% to a 2.1. NBCU's Access Hollywood eased 5% to a 1.8. CTD's The Insider was the only magazine to improve from last year at this time, growing 6% year to year to a 1.7 and holding steady for the week. Warner Bros.' Extra yielded 6% to a 1.5.
CTD's Wheel of Fortune weakened 3% to a 6.6, coming in just behind Judge Judy. CTD's Jeopardy! tacked on 8% to a 5.7. Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud was flat at a 2.9, while Disney-ABC's Who Wants to be a Millionaire moved up 4% to a 2.5.
Warner Bros.' rookie off-net sitcom The Big Bang Theory gained 4% to top all of syndication at a 7.0. Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men upticked 2% to a 5.9. Twentieth's Family Guy grew 8% to a 4.3. Twentieth's How I Met Your Mother picked up 3% to a 3.0. Sony's Seinfeld and CTD's Everybody Loves Raymond each were unchanged at a 2.5 and 2.3, respectively. Warner Bros.' Friends strengthened 5% to a 2.2. Twentieth's King of the Hill fell 5% to a 2.1.
NBCU's 30 Rock -- following fellow rookie, Big Bang -- added 8% to a 1.4 in households and added 25% to a 1.0 among young women 18-34 in mostly late night slots. Twentieth's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia held steady at a 1.2, while Sony's ‘Til Death dropped 17% to a 0.5.
