A pair of national syndication debuts on NBC owned-and-operated stations were hit by midweek pre-emptions due to coverage of the 9/11 anniversary and a decline in overall daytime viewership across the country.
For the week ending Sept. 14, Telepictures’ “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” came out of the gate at a 1.4, while NBC Enterprises’ “Starting Over” earned a 0.8 household average, according to Nielsen Media Research. They are two of five first-run strips launching this fall.
Buena Vista’s second week of “The Wayne Brady Show” was unchanged week to week at a 0.9.
A slew of veteran talk, game, court and newsmagazine shows all made their season debuts. Among court shows, “Judge Judy” opened with a 4.9 household average, up 4 percent from the week before. Paramount’s “Judge Joe Brown” debuted at a 3.4, up 6 percent. Telepictures’ “Judge Greg Mathis” launched its new season unchanged at a 2.0, while Sony’s “Judge Hatchett” was down 6 percent from the previous week.
Among talk shows, Universal premiered two of its strips, with “Maury” slipping 11 percent to a 2.5 while “Jerry Springer” was off 16 percent to a 2.1. The only other talk show to premiere was Paramount’s “Montel,” which grew 5 percent to a 2.3 household rating.
King World’s trio of game shows premiered, and “Wheel of Fortune” continued to lead all syndicated series in overall households with a 12 percent climb to an 8.2. “Jeopardy” was unchanged week to week with a 6.4, while “Hollywood Squares” opened even at a 2.1.
In newsmagazines, Paramount’s “Entertainment Tonight” rose 4 percent to 5.0, King World’s “Inside Edition” was up 10 percent to 3.4, and NBC’s “Access Hollywood” was even at 2.6.
Among weeklies, Paramount’s “Entertainment Tonight” weekend edition saw a huge 64 percent spike in rating to a 4.1 due to its tribute to John Ritter.
Results for other new strips, along with off-net fare such as “King of Queens,” won’t be available for another week.