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Access Ratings Impacted by Time Change

Apr 25, 2005  •  Post A Comment

Syndicated strips, especially shows in prime access and early fringe, saw declines for the week ended April 10, with the end of daylight-saving time and the beginning of sunnier evenings.

Two of the top three off-network sitcoms hit new season lows, including the top-rated strip, King World’s “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which scored a 5.9 national household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research. That was down 13 percent for the week but still an 18 percent increase over its year-ago performance.

Sony’s “Seinfeld” was down 2 percent for both the week and the year to a 5.5. The No. 3 off-net strip, Warner Bros.’ “Friends,” dropped 6 percent for the week to hit a season low of 4.9. “Friends” was also down 9 percent for the year.

All the newsmagazines saw declines for the week, with the genre leader, Paramount’s “Entertainment Tonight,” sliding 8 percent from last week to hit a 4.7. Despite being preempted in its primary run due to NCAA basketball April 4 in nine markets, including three of the top five, “ET” was even with its performance last year.

The top-rated show in syndication, King World’s “Wheel of Fortune,” was down 11 percent for the week with an 8.3, still a 2 percent increase over its performance last year.

Daytime shows also suffered from a lackluster week of ratings. The leading talk strip, King World’s “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” dropped 12 percent for the week to a 6.4. On a year-to-year basis, “Oprah” was up 10 percent. One other talk show saw double-digit weekly declines; NBC Universal’s “Maury,” which dipped 10 percent for the week to a 2.6, a 13 percent decline over its year-ago performance.

The only talk strip up for the week was “Dr. Phil,” which grew 4 percent for the week to a 5.1, a 16 percent increase over last year.

The No. 1 court show, Paramount’s “Judge Judy,” dropped 4 percent for the week to a 4.7, a 2 percent increase year to year.

The week’s highest-rated weekly hour was King World’s off-network rookie “CSI,” which grew 4 percent for the week to a hit a 5.2.