After a strong showing in the first full week of February sweeps, syndicated strips maintained their performance, with most shows holding on to their ratings gains or dropping slightly for the week ended Feb. 20.
The top syndicated program of the week, King World’s “Wheel of Fortune,” scored a 9.7 national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. “Wheel” was unchanged from the previous week and down 1 percent from the same week last year. King World’s “The Oprah Winfrey Show” came in second with an 8.2 rating, down 2 percent for the week but up 8 percent year to year. Game show “Jeopardy!” placed third with an 8.0, down 2 percent for the week and 3 percent for the year.
The top newsmagazine, Paramount’s “Entertainment Tonight,” was unchanged for the week with a 5.6 and down 8 percent from the same week a year ago. The week also marked a milestone for “ET,” which was the No.1 newsmagazine for the 450th consecutive week.
Court shows experienced a flat week, with genre leader “Judge Judy” from Paramount down 2 percent for the week with a 5.3. That was down 2 percent from the same week last year. Paramount’s “Judge Joe Brown” was down 3 percent for the week and the year to a 3.6, while Twentieth’s “Divorce Court” was unchanged for the week with a 2.9, a 12 percent increase over last year. Telepictures’ “People’s Court” dropped 4 percent for the week to a 2.7, up 13 percent for the year. Warner Bros.’ “Judge Mathis” scored a 2.6, unchanged for the week and up 4 percent for the year. Twentieth’s “Texas Justice” was also unchanged, again scoring a 2.1 that was an 11 percent increase over the previous year’s performance. Sony’s “Judge Hatchett” was flat with a 2.0 for the week and down 5 percent for the year.
In the talk arena, King World’s “Dr. Phil” took the second-place spot in the genre with a 5.6, which was unchanged for both the week and the year. Buena Vista’s “Live With Regis and Kelly” was down 3 percent for the week to a 3.6, a 10 percent improvement over the same week last year. NBC Universal’s “Maury” also dropped 3 percent, scoring a 3.2 and down 9 percent for the year. Paramount’s “The Montel Williams Show” dropped 7 percent to a 2.5 for the week and was down 14 percent year to year. Warner Bros.’ “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” was unchanged with a 2.3, up 10 percent for the year. NBC Universal’s “The Jerry Springer Show” was also flat, once again scoring a 2.2 for the week and dropping 12 percent for the year. NBC Universal’s “Starting Over” was down 8 percent to a 1.2 week to week but up 9 percent year to year. The recently canceled “Good Day Live” dropped 10 percent to a 0.9, off 18 percent from last year.
Among the rookie first-run strips, Paramount’s “The Insider” took the top spot with a 2.8, unchanged from last year. NBC Universal’s “The Jane Pauley Show” dropped 12 percent to a 1.5, its lowest rating in 10 weeks. Buena Vista’s “The Tony Danza Show” was flat with a 1.3, while Twentieth’s “Ambush Makeover” was down 9 percent to a 1.0. Warner Bros.’ “The Larry Elder Show” dropped 18 percent to a 0.9, while Sony’s “Pat Croce: Moving In” was up 17 percent to a 0.7. Sony’s “Life & Style” was up 20 percent to a 0.6.
Among rookie off-network strips, Twentieth’s “Malcolm in the Middle” dropped 3 percent for the week to a 3.5, while Twentieth’s “Yes, Dear” grew 5 percent to a 2.0. Both NBC Universal’s “Fear Factor” (1.8) and Paramount’s “Girlfriends” (1.6) were unchanged week to week.
The sole rookie one-hour off-network weekly, King World’s “CSI,” grew 9 percent for the week to a 6.0, leading all weekly hours. The next highest-rated weekly hour was the weekend edition of first-run newsmag “ET,” which scored a 5.6.
The top off-network strip overall was King World’s “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which was unchanged for the week with a 7.3 but up 35 percent for the year. Sony’s “Seinfeld” was down 3 percent for the week with a 6.2, and down 5 percent year to year.