Nielsen rules in favor of “Judge Jerry” and “Judge Judy” despite impeachment preemptions

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending December 15.

Shrugging off impeachment hearing preemptions that negatively affected most syndicated shows in daytime, Judge Judy (syndication best 6.7 live plus same day national Nielsen household rating, holding steady with the week before) was easily syndication’s number one show for the 19^th time in 20 weeks in the session ending December 15.

Meanwhile on the rookie front Jerry Springer’s Judge Jerry (1.1, up 22%) clocked its highest rating since its September 9 premiere week, convincingly leading the new court shows for the 14^th frame in a row and zipping ahead 25% in the key W25-54 demo.

The Kelly Clarkson Show (1.3, steady), already a firm “Go” for next season, refused to decline despite massive impeachment hearing preemptions and remained syndication’s biggest new show in many years. 

Tamron Hall (0.9, steady), another highly regarded newcomer, also held its ground despite a ton of preemptions and was just recently renewed for year two.  Mel Robbins (0.4, unchanged) was a distant third among the freshmen gabfests.

Dr Phil (2.4, down 4%), which did not get to air its primary run in many markets due to the hearings, was still the top talker overall for the 170^th time in the last 171 weeks.