Weekly syndicated ratings roundup

Court Shows Cool While Magazines Heat Up

All the mags get a ratings boost from the Casey Anthony video diary story, while all the courtrooms were down or flat in the week ending Jan. 8.
By
TVNewsCheck,

Magazine shows were the hot group in the first week of 2012, boosted by news of a video diary posted by Casey Anthony, who had kept a very low profile since being acquitted last July of killing her young daughter Caylee. In fact, ratings for every news and entertainment mag were up from the week before in the frame ending Jan. 8, with the exception of TMZ (WBDTD).

Leader Entertainment Tonight (CTD) jumped 9% to a 3.8, after scoring a 20% ratings spike to a 4.2 on Jan. 5, the day the Anthony story broke. ET’s companion, Entertainment Tonight Weekend, grew 11% to a new season high 2.0.

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Inside Edition (CTD) gained 3% to a 3.1; Access Hollywood (NBCU) improve 6% in households to a 1.9 and jumped 25% among women 18-49; TMZ was flat at a 1.9; Extra (WBDTD) rallied 7% in households to a 1.6 while its women 18-49 demo increased 33%; and The Insider (CTD) surged 14% to a 1.6.

Game Shows

Top game shows were also strong. Wheel of Fortune (CTD) rebounded 12% from a slide in the previous session to a 7.6; Jeopardy (CTD) also recovered, picking up 9% to a 6.2; Family Feud (Debmar-Mercury) and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Disney-ABC) were unchanged at 3.2 and 2.6, respectively.

Talk Shows

In daytime, there was a tight fit at the top of the talk show list. Dr. Oz (Sony) inched up 3% from the week before to a 3.0 and nipped usual leader Dr. Phil (CTD) by a tenth of a point. Phil was up 7% to a 2.9, while Live with Kelly (Disney-ABC) dropped 7% to a third-place 2.7. Maury (NBCU) was unchanged at a 2.5 (it’s season high, putting it ahead by 25% from a year ago at this time). Right behind, Ellen DeGeneres (WBDTD) rose 14% from its season low to a 2.4; while the recently renewed Rachael Ray (CTD) held steady at its season high 1.8.

First-Run Freshmen

Among the first-run rookies, Anderson (WBDTD), in repeats, dipped 8% to a 1.2, but continued to lead all newcomers. Jeremy Kyle (Debmar-Mercury) sank 14% to a 0.6, while We the People with Gloria Allred (Entertainment Studios) was flat at a 0.5. Excused (CTD), the new latenight dating show, had an all-rerun week and eased 14% to a 0.6.

Court Shows

Court shows took a breather from their torrid pace of the past few weeks. Judge Judy (CTD) gave back 3% from the week before to a 7.4; Judge Joe Brown (CTD) was down 13% to a 2.8; People’s Court (WBDTD) and Judge Alex (Twentieth) were unchanged at 2.3 and 1.8, respectively; Judge Mathis (WBDTD) tumbled 11% to a 1.7; and Divorce Court (Twentieth) declined 12% to a 1.5.

Off-Net Sitcoms

In off-net syndication, freshman sitcom Big Bang Theory (WBDTD) was up 3% week to week to a new season high 6.8. Two and a Half Men (WBDTD) placed second with a 14% advance to a new season high 6.7; Family Guy (Twentieth) grew 11% to a 4.1; How I Met Your Mother (Twentieth) was up 3% to a 3.5; Seinfeld (Sony) slipped 4% to a 2.6, tying Everybody Loves Raymond (CTD), which remained at a 2.6.

Among the new laffers following Big Bang, 30 Rock (NBCU) climbed 8% in households to a 1.4 and 25% among women 18-34 in late fringe. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Twentieth) fell 15% to a new season low 1.1; while Till Death (Sony) was flat at a 0.7.

Off-Net Weekly Hours

Off-net weekly hours were all over the map. Criminal Minds (CTD) captured the lead with a 15% spike from the week before to a 3.0. Monk (NBCU) leaped into second place with a 27% increase to a 2.8; Law & Order (NBCU), which had been on top for the previous three sessions, skidded 16% to a 2.7; Cold Case (WBDTD) saw its rating cool off 14% to a 2.5, tying Without a Trace (WBDTD) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBCU), which both declined 4% to a 2.5.

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Ratings

Overnights, adults 18-49 for May 17, 2012
  • 1.
    3.0/9
  • 2.
    2.5/7
  • 3.
    2.4/7
  • 4.
    1.5/4
  • 5.
    1.1/3
  • 6.
    0.3/1
Source: Nielsen
Reviews
Opinions
Features
  • David Wiegand

    Fans of Sex and the City have finally gotten their wish: Their beloved sex-focused sitcom is back on the air ... sort of. The four women have become four men, of course, and the writing isn't as good. Oh, and the laugh track so annoying, it's offensive. And did I mention that the costumes would be considered fashionable if you were holding a yard sale? Men at Work on TBS is almost quaint, it's so old fashioned. If it had any meat on its bones, you'd be tempted to say it's the sadly ignoble epitome of TV's long-festering emasculated-men syndrome. But it's so much of a big, forgettable, innocuous shrug, it's not even worth any actual vitriol.

  • Mike Hale

    The USA Network's motto is "Characters Welcome." Apparently they're especially welcome if they resemble Oscar Madison and Felix Unger. Already stocked with Odd Couple knockoffs in Psych and White Collar, USA adds to its inventory Common Law, another comic crime-fighting show about mismatched partners. But this latest entry exhibits very little of that kind of spark as it tries to wring laughs from the juxtaposition of counseling and police work. It looks too flat and schematically plotted to succeed as the type of lightweight summer fun we’ve come to expect from USA.

  • Joanne Ostrow

    Johnny Carson: Fantastic entertainer, miserable human being. That's the lasting message of Johnny Carson: King of Late Night, the new PBS American Masters film, a rich history of a rare product of television who dominated the small screen for decades. Unprecedented access to personal archives plus all existing episodes of The Tonight Show (1962-92), distinguishes this film by Peter Jones. Telling interviews with family and colleagues, including second wife Joanne Carson, former Tonight Show executive producer Peter Lassally and a number of biographers sharpen the picture. The clips are carefully selected to illustrate specific personality traits, the performance highlights are given context and meaning beyond funny lines and memorable moments.

  • Hank Stuever

    AMC's The Pitch is a sharply-made if slightly off-putting reality series that follows different advertising agencies each week as they compete for new accounts. The inspiration for the show — made clear by its own ad campaign — is to harness some of the verve generated by the network's acclaimed Mad Men. The Pitch has a way of making the ad world seem like a real downer — a repugnant exercise in egotism laced with depressing bouts of creative compromise.

  • Tim Goodman

    HBO's Veep stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as former Sen. Selina Meyer, who accepts the vice presidential duty and regrets it almost immediately: She has no real power and gets muscled by the Senate, Congress and the (so-far-unseen) president, who delegates all the truly crappy jobs to her. Louis-Dreyfus has found perhaps her best post-Seinfeld role and takes to it with such fervor — the constant swearing, the barely veiled desire to become president, the unhappy give-and-take with other politicians and a delightful disdain for average citizens — that you can't help but applaud what is clearly an Emmy-worthy effort. Her work alone makes Veep a gem, but there's even more to like.

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