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Syndication Season Wraps Up With the Usual Suspects on Top

Sep 8, 2004  •  Post A Comment

For the 2003-04 season, King World’s “Wheel of Fortune” was the No. 1-rated show in households, coming in at an 8.7 average, according to Nielsen Media Research. The runner-up was corporate cousin “Jeopardy!” with a 7.2 rating. Among game shows Buena Vista’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” won for most improved with its 3.6 rating, which placed it among the top 10 strips at No. 10, up from a ranking of 18 last season.

In the daytime talk arena King World’s “The Oprah Winfrey Show” won the top spot with a 6.6 rating, outperforming its spinoff “Dr. Phil,” which garnered a 4.9. Rounding out the top spots in the genre were “Live With Regis and Kelly” with a 3.6, “Maury” with a 3.0 and “Montel Williams” with a 2.5. Telepictures’ “The Ellen Degeneres Show” scored a 1.7, the highest average of any new show of the season. The second-highest show to debut last season was “The Sharon Osbourne Show” with a 1.2, which was not renewed for 2004-05.

Paramount’s “Entertainment Tonight” maintained its dominance among entertainment newsmagazines with a 5.4 rating. “Inside Edition” came in second for the season with a 3.5, followed by “Access Hollywood” with a 2.8. “Extra” trailed with a 2.5, along with “Celebrity Justice,” which scored a 1.9.

Among court shows “Judge Judy” delivered a 4.9, while “Judge Joe Brown” came in with a 3.4. “Divorce Court” ranked third in the genre with a 3.6, “People’s Court” came in at a 2.3 and “Judge Mathis” rounded out the top five with a 2.2.

In the off-network category, Sony’s “Seinfeld” came out on top with a 5.9, followed closely by “Friends” at 5.7. “Everybody Loves Raymond” scored a 5.5, while “That ’70’s Show” garnered a 3.6, just ahead of “Will & Grace” at 3.4.