“Jeopardy” ratings rise as player sets winnings record
“Judge Judy” is 1st syndie in 15 years to dominate ratings for 40 straight weeks
Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending April 14.
Jeopardy (6.4 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, up 5% from the week before) got a boost from professional gambler James Holzhauer setting a new “Jeopardy” individual day winnings record and slipped ahead of Wheel of Fortune (6.0, unchanged) and Family Feud (5.9, down 3%) in the session ending April 14.
But “Jeopardy” had no answer for reruns of Judge Judy (6.7), which made the syndication ratings record book by becoming the first show in 15 years to be No. 1 overall in the household ratings for 40 consecutive weeks. “Judy” continued to dominate despite taking a breather and easing 1% from the prior frame while airing repeats on four of the five days.
Dr. Phil (four-week high 2.8, up 4%) ran encore episodes on two days but still topped the talk shows for the 136th straight week.
The battle for second among talkers was no contest for the seventh week in a row as Live with Kelly and Ryan (2.2, down 4%) continued to outperform Ellen DeGeneres (1.9, unchanged).
Wendy Williams (1.4, up 27%) elbowed its way back into fourth place with fresh episodes after the show’s ratings sank 27% the week before for an all-repeat session while host Williams was on hiatus.
Rounding out the top six were Maury (1.3, down 7%) and Steve (1.2, steady).
On the magazine rack Access (1.3) had the biggest annual increase in the top tier, improving 8%. Also holding its ground year to year was the recently renewed Daily Mail TV (1.0), which rushed into a tie with Extra.
Elsewhere Dateline (1.4, up 8%) continued to roll, topping the true crime category for a 31st straight week.
