Off-net syndicated series have a new champion. Twentieth’s “Family Guy” unseated long-reigning off-net leader “Everybody Loves Raymond” in the animated series’ second week of syndication. The strip scored a 20 percent increase in households to earn a 4.2 rating. “Raymond” fell to second, dipping 3 percent to a 3.7 score.
Fellow rookie “Two and a Half Men” finished its second week with a 3.3 rating to finish in fourth place behind “Family Guy,” “Raymond” and “Seinfeld,” which earned a 3.5.
Hourlong off-net strip “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” from NBC Universal finished its first week in broadcast syndication with a 1.3 score.
Meanwhile, the rookie crop saw more trouble from Nielsen, which continued to struggle with audience measurement for some of the new shows for the week ending Sept. 23. Final numbers for rookie strips “TMZ,” “Temptation” and “Jury Duty” were unavailable. “TMZ” scored a 1.9 preliminary rating, although that could change once Nielsen’s numbers are finalized.
That said, NBC Universal’s “Steve Wilkos” held its ground with a 0.9 household rating to lead newcomers that were rated. Despite a drop in audience levels week-to-week of more than 1 million, “Wilkos” saw some key demographic growth, with a 44 percent jump among women 25-54 to a 0.7 rating and a 20 percent rise in week two among women 18-49 to a 0.6.
National ratings for the other three strips to debut this season that were rated were all unchanged, with “Morning Show With Mike and Juliet,” “Merv Griffin’s Crosswords” and “Judge David Young” all unchanged at a 0.8 score.
Among new weekly syndicated series to debut this week, NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” took home a 2.1 while “Cold Case” earned a 1.9.
(2:35: Updated “TMZ” rating in fourth paragraph)