Declining audience levels for the summer months continued to take a toll on syndicated series, although a number of series scattered throughout the genres all found some room to grow, according to Nielsen Media Research for the week ending July 20.

The game show category in particular seemed to weather the heat, as both CBS Television Distribution’s “Wheel of Fortune” and Debmar-Mercury’s “Family Feud” both gained ground.

In the genre, “Wheel of Fortune” continued to lead the pack with a 6.6 rating. That score is up 2% for the week and up 3% in year-to-year comparisons. “Jeopardy!” took the silver with a 5.6, down 3% for the week but up 8% from last year’s numbers.

Disney’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” matched its season low, scoring a 2.6 rating, a 4% decline for the week. “Family Feud” rose 6% to a 1.8 score. Program Partners’ “Merv Griffin’s Crosswords” finished the week even with a 0.8, as did Twentieth Television’s “Temptation” with a 0.5.

Only two talk shows succeeded in improving their weekly scores, as CBS’ “Dr. Phil” earned a 3.8, to mark a 3% improvement in both week-to-week and year-to-year numbers. The other was NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution’s “Steve Wilkos,” which pulled a 1.0 with 11% growth for the week.

Among newsmagazines, the lone gainer was CBS’ “The Insider,” which shot back into a third-place tie with a 6% rise to a 1.9 score.

A number of court shows also saw growth, as CBS’ “Judge Joe Brown” grew 4% to a 2.5, “Judge Alex” was up 7% to a 1.5, Sony Pictures Television’s “Judge Hatchett” rose 20% to a 1.2 and Twentieth’s “Cristina’s Court” skyrocketed 22% to a 1.2.

The summer also has drawn eyeballs to the limited launch of “The Wendy Williams Show” from Debmar-Mercury. The series, which launched in four markets as part of a limited run on July 14, finished its second week with continued strong numbers in her home city of New York. Questions remain, however, on the success of the series in other markets.

In the country’s No. 1 market, “Williams” continues to be a big story at 10 a.m., where it wins the time periods among women 18-34 and 18-49. After a strong 1.6/6 in households last week, the show held even for week two in all three categories and earned a 1.9/15 among women 18-34 and a 1.5/12 among women 18-49. That score easily bests the time-period score from a year ago, when repeats of now-canceled series “Dr. Keith Ablow” ran in the slot and earned a 0.6/2.

In Los Angeles, the series runs in two slots, at 1 p.m. on KTTV and 4 p.m. on KCOP. At 1 p.m., “Wendy Williams” grew from week one to week two by 50% in both rating and share with a 0.9/3. Its two-week average so far is holding even with reruns of “Montel Williams” a year ago at a 0.8.

At 4 p.m., the series grew 25% to a 0.5 rating. The two-week average of 0.5/1 is down from last year’s runs of “One on One,” which averaged a 0.6/2.

In Dallas, the series saw a 13% rise in week two versus week one, with a 0.9 rating and a 3 share. However, the two-week average of 0.9/3 is actually down 10% from repeats of “Dr. Keith Ablow” in the time period in 2007.

In the fourth market airing the series, Detroit, the series declined a tenth of a point from week one to week two, earning a 1.7/6. The show’s two-week average of 1.8/6 is up 6% from runs of “Montel Williams” last July.