Several Syndies Defy Hurricane Ida

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending September 5, 2021.

The big vacation week leading into Labor Day was no picnic for syndicated shows as monster Hurricane Ida struck the U.S. in the session ending September 5, causing widespread power failures and preemptions for news coverage.

Just two of the 14 talkers succeeded in scoring higher ratings despite blackouts and both being in preseason reruns, Dr. Phil (three-week high 1.4 live plus same day national Nielsen, up 8% from the week before) and renewed rookie Drew Barrymore (six-week high 0.5, up 25%).

Top talk show of the entire 2020-21 season, Live with Kelly and Ryan (1.6, steady), was also in repeats for the frame but still finished first in the genre for the 17^th week in a row.

Outside of daytime Family Feud (5.5, down 2%) led the games in the higher viewing level access time slots. Wheel of Fortune (4.5, up 5%) and Jeopardy (4.1, up 5%) trailed the Steve Harvey-hosted Feud.

Entertainment Tonight (2.0, steady) topped the entertainment magazines. Of note: the heavily preempted Extra (0.7, steady) jumped into a tie with TMZ (0.7, down 13%) and both blew past rival Daily Mail TV (0.5, down 17%).

Turning to the early new season overnight results Ellen DeGeneres (1.3/5 primary run weighted metered market average) shot up 30% from last year at this time and won or finished second in its time period in most of the top 18 markets for its final season kickoff on September 13.