Viewers turn to news magazines for reports on Kobe Bryant and Grammy Awards

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending February 2.

Reports on the life and tragic death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and coverage of the 62^nd Annual Grammy Awards drove viewers to most of the newsmagazines in the session ending February 2^nd.

Although ratings were lackluster for many syndicated shows thanks to five days of impeachment hearings causing numerous preemptions, four of the top five magazines saw significant increases.

Entertainment Tonight (2.9 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, up 4% from the week before) was the category leader for the fourth straight week. Stable-mate Inside Edition (2.7, up 8%) was not far behind.

Access Hollywood (1.4, up 17%) stood out from the crowd, shooting up 40% in the key W25-54 demo and clocking the largest ratings gain of all. TMZ (1.1, unchanged) was unable to improve, but Extra (1.0, up 11%) was strong, racing ahead to equal its season high.

 Among talkers, Dr. Phil (2.1, up 5%) was tops for the 174^th time in the last 178 weeks.

Live with Kelly and Ryan (2.0, down 5%) took second place honors, followed by Ellen DeGeneres (1.7, down 19%).

Elsewhere, Judge Judy (5.9, up 4%) was the only court show moving into positive territory, finishing first in the genre by far for a remarkable 1,219^th consecutive week.

Judge Jerry (0.9, steady), the rookie courtroom leader by open daylight for the 21^st straight session despite being in repeats all week, was just given the green light for next season.