Several top syndicated shows overcome March Madness

Five Days of “Judge Judy” Reruns Crush Everything

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending March 31.

Even with competition from the exciting Sweet Sixteen round of the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and numerous preemptions, a few of the top syndicated shows were able to bank strong gains in the session ending March 31.

Leading the Nielsen chart by wide open daylight was syndication dynamo Judge Judy (6.7 live plus same day national rating, up 6% from the week before). Regardless of the fact that “Judy” aired repeat episodes on all five days, it still blew away every other show on the list for an historic 38^th straight week.                                      

Dr. Phil (2.7, up 8%) was the only talk show moving up despite being in reruns on two days, leading the chat-pack for the 134^th consecutive week.

Live with Kelly and Ryan (2.1, down 5%) lost ground without co-host Kelly Ripa for five days, but still finished second for the fifth week in a row.

Ellen DeGeneres (new season low 1.7, down 11%) declined sharply with encore episodes, while Wendy Williams(1.5), Maury (1.4) and Steve Harvey’s Steve (1.3) all turned in solid performances on par with the prior frame. Also worthy of note “Steve” surged 20% in the key W25-54 demographic.

Among entertainment magazines several shows refused to decline despite being buffeted by basketball preemptions. Access (1.3, steady) saw a 17% spike among W25-54 and tied TMZ (1.3, unchanged) in households, while Daily Mail TV (1.0, steady) tied Extra (1.0, down 9%).

Dateline (1.3, up 8%) captured first place in the true crime genre for the 29^th straight week.

And the survey said Family Feud (6.1, up 3%) was the highest rated game show for a second consecutive week.