“Live” Leads Talk for Sixth Week

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending April 17, 2022.

Shrugging off the slew of preemptions that prevented every other on-going strip in first run from advancing in the session ending April 17, Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.7 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, up 6% from the week before) easily topped the talkers for the sixth week in a row. It also drew the biggest audience by far, averaging 2,379,000 daily viewers (a weekly gain of 59,000). Currently in its 34^th season, “Live” has now been No. 1 rated or tied for first among the talk shows 65 times in the last 84 weeks.

The holiday week (Good Friday, Easter and Passover) was marked by a ton of preemptions for the UEFA Champions League soccer semi finals. In addition, schedules were wiped out, especially in top market New York, for extensive coverage of the Brooklyn subway shooting.

Dr. Phil (1.4, down 7%) went into reruns for part of the frame but still secured second place. Also giving back recent gains were Kelly Clarkson (0.8, down 11%) and Jerry Springer (0.3, down 25%).

Among courtroom programs leader Judge Judy (4.3, down 4%) and second place Hot Bench (1.4, down 7%) both dipped. Newcomer Relative Justice (0.3, down 25%) also weakened.

Losers in the game show arena included Jeopardy (5.4, down 2%), Family Feud (5.1, down 4%), Wheel of Fortune (4.9, down 4%), 25 Words or Less (0.7, down 13%) and Funny You Should Ask (0.3, down 25%).