Talk Shows Take Off After Labor Day

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending September 12, 2021.

Talk shows were the hottest sector in syndication in the week that began with Labor Day and ended September 12.

Major gainers in the top tier included Ellen DeGeneres (0.8 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, up 14% from the week before) and Tamron Hall (0.7, up 17%).

Legendary talker “Ellen” was in repeats as it prepared to launch its final season on September 13, which in the early overnights went through the roof with a 40% increase over last September. The highly regarded “Tamron” scored with the first week of its third season and clocked the best national year to year performance of any talk show in the top ten, shooting up 17%.

Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.7, up 6%) was the No. 1 chatfest for the 18^th straight week, kicking off its 34^th season.

Court shows also came up big. Reruns of Judge Judy (4.6, up 5%) topped all jurists. Hot Bench (1.5, up 7%) was syndication’s second highest gaveler.

In game show action Jeopardy (4.1, unchanged) was far behind leader Family Feud (5.6, up 2%), but tied Wheel of Fortune (4.1, down 9%).