Protests and Pandemic Sinks Syndication Ratings in Holiday Week

Widespread rating declines slammed syndicated shows in the Memorial Day week ending May 31 due to preemptions for breaking news of the George Floyd protests and the novel coronavirus pandemic.

There were a few bright spots, however.

Among court shows, leader-for-life Judge Judy (5.8 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, down 2% from the week before) had only a minor loss compared to most programs while extending its winning streak in the category to a modern record 1,236 weeks.  Hot Bench (2.0, down 5%) was in reruns all week, but tied “Dr Phil” as the second highest show in daytime behind only “Judy.”

Dr Phil (2.0, down 13%) aired four days of repeats but was still the number one talk show for a third straight week and the 184^th time in the past 195 weeks.

Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.9, down 5%) snared second place.

Trailing were Ellen DeGeneres (new season low 1.4, down 7%), Maury (1.1, down 8%), Rachael Ray (1.0, unchanged), Steve Wilkos (0.9, down 10%) and Wendy Williams (new season low 0.8, down 11%).

Just two magazines managed to avoid losses and hold 100% of their prior week’s ratings:  TMZ (1.0, steady) and Daily Mail TV (0.8, steady), which tied Extra (0.8, down 11%).