“Judge Judy” tops syndication chart in first week of last season

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending September 20, 2020.

Picking up where last season’s syndication champion left off Judge Judy (eight-week high 5.7 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, up 6% from the week before) began its 25^th and final season flying into first place overall. In the session ending September 20 “Judy” crushed all competition with three times the rating of the next highest daytime show. 

In talk show action, Tamron Hall (nine-week high 0.8, up 33%) came up very big with its second season premiere featuring a news-making exclusive interview with Andrew Gillum. 

Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.9, steady) led the talkers, with Dr. Phil (1.8, down 5%) in close pursuit.

Ellen DeGeneres (new series low 0.8, down 11%) fell to the worst rating in its 17-year history, 56% below its comparable week one year earlier. The first national rating for the new season of “Ellen,” which didn’t begin until September 21, will not appear until a week from now. Meanwhile, DeGeneres’ highly anticipated season premiere week declined 25% from its year-ago time periods in the 56 metered markets.

On the positive side The Drew Barrymore Show (0.7) had a solid opening week, going into the books as the third best pure talk show premiere since 2017. The strong showing came despite being preempted 19 times in many of the top markets by US Open Golf and breaking news coverage.

Only the first weeks of recent major hits Kelly Clarkson and Tamron Hall pulled higher numbers than the “Drew” debut. But both of those shows bowed well before the coronavirus pandemic, which was a major setback for original television production.

Elsewhere, three prime access magazines scored gains in the week leading in to the September 20 Emmy Awards. Entertainment Tonight (2.2, up 5%), Inside Edition (2.2, up 5%), and Access Hollywood (0.9, up 13%) grabbed the early gold.