Ratings for the syndicated
magazines came back down to Earth in the week ending Dec. 20, as PUT levels
declined sharply in the pre-Christmas week and the Tiger Woods story finally
began to fade. On the other hand, none of the first-run game, talk
or court shows were up week-to-week either.
CBS Television Distribution's
(CTD) Entertainment Tonight, the no.1 newsmag, slipped 6% from the week
before to 4.5, although ET Weekend continued on its ratings roll, jumping
14% to a new season-high 2.4. CTD's Inside Edition gave
back 6% to a 3.4. NBC Universals' (NBCU) Access Hollywood
fell 8% to 2.2. Warner Bros.' TMZ was down 5% to
2.1. Warner Bros.' Extra sank 10% to 1.9 and CTD's The
Insider was off 5% to 1.8.
Elsewhere in access, game shows
went nowhere. CTD's Wheel of Fortune slid 4% to 7.2.
CTD's Jeopardy! dropped 6% to 5.9. Disney/ABC's
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was down 4% to 2.6.
Debmar-Mercury's Family Feud deteriorated 7% to 1.3.
NBCU's Deal Or No Deal lost 8% to 1.2.
In daytime, every talk show was
down except NBCU's Martha Stewart, which remained at its season-high
0.7. CTD's Oprah was the only talker to hit a new
season-low, tumbling 12% to 3.7. CTD's Dr. Phil dipped 3%
to 2.8. Disney/ABC's Live With Regis & Kelly was also
down 3% to 2.8. Warner Bros. Ellen Degeneres slipped 7% to
2.6. NBCU's Maury was down 5% to 1.8. CTD's
The Doctors went into reruns and dropped 15% to 1.7. CTD's
Rachael Ray, also offering some repeats, lost 11% to 1.7.
NBCU's Jerry Springer and Steve Wilkos each faded 8% to 1.2
and 1.1 respectively. Warner Bros.' Bonnie Hunt was down
11% to 0.8.
CTD's Judge Judy was down
6% to 4.4 but was still the highest-rated first-run show in daytime standings
for the fourth straight week, topping Oprah by 19%. CTD's Judge
Joe Brown eased 5% to 2.1. Warner Bros.' Peoples' Court
declined 5% to 1.9. Warner Bros.' Judge Mathis and
Twentieth's Judge Alex each fell 6% to 1.5. Twentieth's
Divorce Court and Warner Bros.' Judge Jeanine Pirro remained flat
at 1.4 and 1.0 respectively.
Among rookies, Sony's Dr.
Oz was down 4% to a 2.6 but was still the freshman leader in first
run. Twentieth's Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader took a
6% demotion to 1.5. Debmar-Mercury's Wendy Williams and
Litton's Street Court were flat at 1.3 and 0.6 respectively.
NBCU's The Office was the top newcomer overall, despite a 3%
descent to a 3.0. Off-net sitcoms Twentieth's My Name Is
Earl was up 5% to 2.0. CTD's Everybody Hates Chris
gained 6% to 1.9.
Warner Bros.' Two and a Half
Men was down 4% to 4.9. Twentieth's Family Guy grew 3%
to 3.5. Warner Bros.' George Lopez advanced 8% to
2.8. Sony's Seinfeld slipped 4% to 2.7. CTD's
Everybody Loves Raymond rose 4% to 2.5. Twentieth's King
of the Hill was unchanged at 2.3. Warner Bros.' Friends
coughed up 9% a 2.1. House of Payne stumbled 11% down to
1.7. Sony's King of Queens was up 6% to 1.7, tying Payne.
