The Oscars are the Super Bowl of entertainment for syndication's access magazines, and this year's telecast on Monday, Feb. 27, was no different, driving up ratings for the year and for the week for most shows.
One exception was Warner Bros.' TMZ, which was preempted in almost every metered market due to Fox's airing of NASCAR's Daytona 500, which scored huge ratings for the network. Magazines were preempted in many other markets due to the race, and those markets were not counted in Nielsen's next-day metered market ratings.
Per usual, CBS Television Distribution's Entertainment Tonight wonthe ratings race, averaging a 5.2 rating/8 share among households in the weighted metered markets for its primary runs. That put the show up 21% from its February 2011 time period average, and 21% from the show's prior week average. ET beat its closest competitor by more than 40%. The show's best markets were Raycom's NBC affiliate WWBT Richmond, Va., where it averaged a 11.2/17 at 7 p.m., and Griffin Communication's KOTV Tulsa, Okla., where it averaged at a 10.2/15 at 6:30 p.m.
CTD's Inside Edition came in second at a 3.7/8, up 12% from last year and up 9% from last week. Inside Edition performed best on Belo's CBS affiliate WWL New Orleans at 6:30 p.m., where it averaged a 10.8/15 and on Hearst's NBC affiliate WXII Greensboro, N.C., at 7 p.m., leading into ET, where it averaged a 9.6/14.
In third place, NBCUniversal's Access Hollywood averaged a 2.9 rating/6 share, up 21% from last year and up 26% from last week. Access' best performances were on NBC's WRC Washington, D.C., at 7:30 p.m. with a 5.9/10 and on Sinclair's ABC affiliate WSYX Columbus, Ohio, at 7:30 p.m., where it led out of ET with a 5.6/9.
Warner Bros.' Extra, whose co-host Maria Menounos will compete in this round of ABC's Dancing With the Stars, boasted the genre's biggest year-to-year gain with a 2.6/5, jumping 30% over last year and 24% from last week. Extra fared best on Media General's NBC affiliate WFLA Tampa, Fla., with a 6.2/9 at 7:30 p.m. and, like Access, in Columbus, Ohio, where it did a 6.0/10 on Media General's NBC affiliate WCMH at 7:30 p.m.
Finally, CTD's ET spin-off The Insider improved 15% from last year and 10% from last year with a 2.3/5. The Insider did best on CBS's KMFB San Diego at 7:30 p.m., following ET, with a 6.3/9 and on CBS' KYW Philadelphia at 7:30 p.m., also following ET, at a 5.4/8.
