“Judge Judy” rules syndication as Holzhauer “Jeopardy” hiatus hits second week

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending May 19.

With the May sweep (April 25 – May 22) winding down, Judge Judy (7.1 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, up 1% from the week before) captured more than 9.8-million daily viewers and convincingly outperformed an until-recently unstoppable Jeopardy! (6.2, up 2%), which was without main attraction James Holzhauer in the session ending May 19.

Holzhauer, the multimillion dollar winning contestant who has mesmerized viewers with his uncanny knowledge and sent “Jeopardy!” ratings to levels not seen since 2005, was off the show from May 6 until May 17 due to a previously slated Teacher’s Tournament. 

“Judge Judy,” syndication’s No. 1 program, has shut down all competitors for 42 of the last 45 weeks with the only three misses coming at the buzzer hands of Holzhauer. Holzhauer returned to “Jeopardy!” on May 20 and by May 28 he had racked up 29 wins and slightly over $2.25-million.

Turning to the talk shows Dr. Phil (2.8, up 4%) was the sole strip in positive territory, finishing first for an “Oprah”-like 141 weeks in a row.

Live with Kelly and Ryan (2.1, down 5%) was the No. 2 talker for a 12^th straight week over Ellen DeGeneres (2.0, unchanged), which was recently extended for three more years.

Rounding out the top tier in the 14-show category were Wendy Williams (1.4, down 7%), Maury (1.3, unchanged) and Steve Harvey’s Steve (1.2, steady).

In other dayparts, reports on the life and death of America’s Box-Office Sweetheart of the 50’s and 60’s Doris Day and legendary comedian Tim Conway fueled some of the popular entertainment magazines.

Entertainment Tonight (six-week high 2.9, up 4%) set the pace, leading all mags for a third straight week. Access (1.2) held steady at a five-week high and rolled to a tie with TMZ (1.2, down 8%). Daily Mail TV (1.0, up 11%), which was recently renewed for season three, climbed into a tie with Extra (1.0, down 9%).

Elsewhere Dateline (1.3, up 8%) maintained its strangle-hold on the true crime genre for the 36^th week in a row.