“Live with Kelly and Ryan” retakes talk lead in preemption plagued week

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending October 4, 2020.

A crushing schedule of baseball playoff games and blanket news coverage of President Trump’s trip to the Walter Reed Medical Center after being infected with the coronavirus caused massive preemptions and lower ratings for some shows in the session ending October 4. 

Side-stepping most of the mayhem since it primarily airs in morning slots, Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.9 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, up 12% from the week before) battled into a clear first place among the talkers. Popular host Kelly Ripa will mark her 20^th year with the acclaimed show in February.

Usual leader Dr. Phil (1.8, down 5%) was preempted in some markets, but still finished close behind.

The embattled Ellen DeGeneres (1.2, unchanged) avoided losses by having its ratings broken out by Nielsen and not counted in its average on two of the five weekdays. Still, the show drew approximately 782,000 fewer daily viewers than it attracted last year at this time.

Conflict talkers Maury (1.0) and Steve Wilkos (0.9) air mostly on stations that were not impacted by the schedule disruptions and were both unchanged.

On the other hand Kelly Clarkson (0.9, down 10%) lost its primary runs in many markets due to the games and breaking news but still tied “Wilkos” and Wendy Williams (0.9, up 13%), which forged ahead in the second week of its 13^th season.

Judge Judy (5.4, down 7%) shrugged off a boatload of baseball blackouts and was easily the highest rated show in syndication for the sixth time in seven weeks.

In prime access some shows had to contend with plenty of preemptions, including shelvings for the NBA and NHL playoffs as well as the presidential debate. Magazines hanging tough and able to hold all of their prior Emmy Award week’s ratings despite not airing many times were Access Hollywood (1.0), TMZ (0.9) and Extra (0.7).