Syndicators praying that audiences are ready for a new crop of series may have got their wish as the fall season officially launched with the debuts of “The Wayne Brady Show,” “Caroline Rhea” and “Celebrity Justice.” Although HUT levels were typically low for the Labor Day week, distributors found early cheer in the ratings results, according to Nielsen metered market surveys.
Buena Vista’s rookie series “The Wayne Brady Show” clearly benefited from strong time slots on most of the ABC owned-and-operated stations. After three days on the air, “Wayne Brady” was averaging a 2.8 Nielsen Media Research household rating and 8 share. The strip is doing particularly well on WABC-TV in New York, where it posted a 4.4/13 and won its time period, and in Philadelphia, where it earned a 4.6/12 at 10 a.m. on WPVI-TV.
The series’ 2.8 average came from 21 metered markets, and though the series was down 2 share points from its lead-in (a 3.4/10 average), “Brady’s” share numbers were up a point from its August time periods and on par with last October’s numbers.
Telepictures’ duo of “Caroline Rhea” and “Celebrity Justice” clearly had an uphill battle opening the season with a slew of late-night time slots. But both seemed to hold their own given the handicap. “Caroline Rhea” finished with a 1.4/4 over the three-day period in 52 metered markets. The strip is off a share point from its lead-in (1.7/5) but is running even in share with August’s numbers.
In the two metered markets where “Caroline” and “Brady” go head to head, the two series split the competition with “Caroline” taking Phoenix and “Wayne Brady” winning in Denver.
New magazine strip “Celebrity Justice” aired in 51 metered markets and averaged a 1.1/3 score for the period. That number is down a share point from its lead-in but is even with the time period’s share average in August.