“Judge Judy” rules court show ratings for 1,200 consecutive weeks
Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending September 22.
Forget the law books. Judge Judy (6.5 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, down 3% from the week before) made the record books with a remarkable 1,200 straight weeks of first place finishes among all syndicated court shows in the session ending September 22.
That gave “Judy” – which has been the highest-rated first-run show in syndication every season for the past decade – the top Nielsen score among courtrooms every week for more than 23 years.
In fact, the “Judy” juggernaut, which dominated syndication’s entire Nielsen chart for an eighth straight week, has more than triple the rating of the next highest court program. That show is Hot Bench (2.1, up 11%), which was created by Judge Judy Sheindlin.
Turning to the newcomers, The Kelly Clarkson Show (1.4, down 13%) was not quite able to duplicate its blockbuster debut but was still the top-rated rookie by open daylight, ranking right behind long-running hit “Ellen” among all talkers.
Second week ratings for Tamron Hall (0.9, down 10%) backed off slightly from its strong first frame but still beat veteran Dr. Oz (0.8, down 11%) and more than doubled the numbers for fellow freshman yakker The Mel Robbins Show (0.4, premiere week).
Among the new court shows, Judge Jerry (1.0, down 9%) had a slight dip in week two after opening with the best debut for a gaveler in five years.
Also joining the nationally rated courtroom competition this week, but well behind “Judge Jerry,” were Personal Injury Court (0.4, premiere week) and Protection Court (0.3, premiere week).
New game show entries were 25 Words or Less (0.8, premiere week) and America Says (0.5, premiere week).
Back on the list of established programs, Dr. Phil (2.3, steady) was the talk show leader for the 159th straight week.
Live with Kelly and Ryan (13-week high 2.0, up 5%) regained sole possession of second place, breaking a tie with Ellen DeGeneres (1.8, down 5%).
Following the aforementioned brand new “Kelly Clarkson,” the next talker in line was Wendy Williams (1.2, up 33%), which returned to original episodes after weeks of reruns.
In access Entertainment Tonight (17-week high 2.6, up 4%) was the only magazine moving up, jumping into a first-place tie in households with Inside Edition (2.6, unchanged). But in the advertiser-coveted W25-54 age group, “ET” (1.1 demo rating, up 10%) was far ahead of the field. Back in households, Jeopardy (5.7, up 4%) inched ahead of Family Feud (5.6, down 2%) in the game show race.
